Perfect Absence
by Silent Marionette
Summary: He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother. FINALLY UPDATED
1. Blank Resemblance

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

** Chapter 1:**

**Blank Resemblance**

* * *

_**At the dawn of civilization,**_

_**The Christians declared:**_

"_**If you remain Jews,**_

_**You shall no longer live amongst us."**_

_**In the high middle ages,**_

_**The Secular Leaders decided:**_

"_**You shall no longer live amongst us."**_

_**Finally,**_

_**The Nazis decreed:**_

"_**You shall no longer live."**_

_**- Pascal Croci**_

Decaying corpses and blood gave the air an unpleasant stench. In the midst of a graveyard created by twisted rubble and unrecognizable bodies, stood a boy. His eyes could barely look up as he stared in pure horror at the sight before him. He tried to speak but could only cough on his words. Everything around him made no sense and never would.

_W-why?_

"_**They will be sent to concentration camps. Once they enter the camp they're gone. Dead. Most die but those who manage to survive rarely last."**_

"_**What happens there?"**_

"_**They're gassed, experimented on, shot. Who knows, there may be more ways of torture."**_

_**"Because they're Jewish!"**_

_**At that his tone changed rapidly into one of disgust, growling the words bluntly.**_

_**"Because they're different."**_

Only a series of loud footsteps brought him out of his haunting thoughts.

(1) "Dort ist er!"

Turning around rapidly, the boy found himself thrown to the ground. A sharp crack filled the air as his head made contact with the cement, pain shooting through it immediately on impact. Before he could straighten himself, a cold hand wrapped around his collar and drew him up to the eye level with his captor.

(2) "Es ist der junge," the man noted and his neutral expression twisted into a disgusting smirk. The pure smell that came off of him was enough to make the boy's stomach pull into a tight knot and run up to choke his throat. A warm liquid trickled down the side of his head but his arms refused to move to wipe it away; as if scared to. Soon, it managed to make a path down to his forehead and fell over his eyes, blinding him in mere seconds.

(3) "Aussehen, blut."

His eyes were crammed shut to keep away the flowing blood but he could feel himself slowly being carried away. The hand didn't move from his collar and in response began strangling him. They didn't care. His feet barely scraped the ground as he was violently dragged to an unknown destination.

_Why can't I do anything?_

Tears were already forming in his eyes, his attempts to keep them from falling ending in a helpless mess.

(4) "Verlassen Sie sie. Auschwitz." The last word was complimented with a guttural laugh as he strained to understand what they were saying.

_Auschwitz?_

"Alphonse Elric?"

(5) "Mit den anderen."

He was suddenly turned the other way and at an even more aggressive pace, dragged over left over bits of rubble and twisted pipes.

It seemed like forever he was pulled on an endless rampage. Shouts and the painful sounds of sobbing surrounded him and the stench of decay grew stronger. Finally forcing himself to wipe away the thick liquid which still was busy flowing uncontrollably, he opened his eyes. The blood dripped off his sleeve slowly and stained his hands. Without even noticing the bloody mess that the lower half of his sleeve had become, he quietly watched the people in front of him. Women and men alike were being shoved and prodded with the tips of rifles each officer carried. In an orderly fashion, they each walked up a thick piece of wood with hammered in steps and into one of the carts. An officer who stood on the outskirts of the large crowd forming around the melancholy train gave the boy and his captor a short but soul piercing glance before he pointed at the last cart were people were being loaded into.

(6) "Da drüben."

* * *

He wouldn't call it a train cart, maybe a cargo box. Towering over him in an equally menacing fashion as the "leaders", Alphonse let out a withered sigh from exhaustion. It hurt to see them treat the group he had found himself in like sheep, beating anyone who stalled for a second to argue or escape. The tears that normally would threaten his eyes at such sights had vanished. There wasn't any use for them anymore.

Being pushed and bumped around, Alphonse stammered for apologies but stopped mid way through. "Roy Mustang?"

The man gazed down at him, seeming almost surprised by the young boy's sudden remark. His eyes darkened almost to the point where Alphonse began doubting that it truly was him.

"Yes, who are you?"

"Alphonse Elric," he replied, glad for once to have some sort of company or someone to talk to. "Don't you remember my brother, Edward?"

Roy gave him an annoyed look but still held a casual tone to his voice.

"I've heard of him… Worked with Alfons Heidrich to construct rockets or something," he mumbled in a response, shuffling along before him in a hurry.

Alphonse's eyes brightened, gleaming slightly that Roy did in fact know who he was.

"Have you seen him?"

At that Roy could only shake his head, the strands of black hair moving before his eyes causing a darker effect. Before Alphonse could question him further, a sharp push forced him onto the ground. "Wait!"

It was too late; the mob had already caused him to lose any idea of where the familiar face had wandered to. Everyone was heading in the same direction; it wouldn't be too hard to catch him once more if he was quick. Attempting to stand up through the flurry of legs and comments, a hand grasped onto his waving one and a strong jerk pulled him rapidly to his feet.

"Alphonse?"

* * *

1- There it is!

2- It is the boy.

3- Look, blood.

4- Leave it.

5- With the others.

6- There, over there.

I apologize if it doesn't make sense, online translators can't be trusted these days . ;

I've had this idea messing with my head for some time now; I'm just too lazy to post it. The beginning quote/s is from a graphic novel that inspired the story. Believe it or not, it's named 'Auschwitz'by Pascal Croci and might I add, one of the best books I have ever read.

Enough of my rambling, RxR so I know how much you liked it :3


	2. Strangers

**Perfect Absence**

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 2: **

**Strangers**

* * *

"Brother!"

Alphonse's words were diminished by the stern look on his older brother's face, almost abnormal to the usual glint.

"We have to go," Edward said with a slurred tone, grabbing hold of his arm tightly before pulling him up. Before Alphonse could utter another word, he was forced through the thick crowd.

"Go where? We can't get out, everything is blocked and there's to many-" he began but was stopped once the sliver of blonde hair disappeared in the jumble of brown coats and other figures. The grip that his brother's prosthetic hand held was the only proof that he hadn't lost him once more.

Continuously dragged past others, some gave him a rude comment while others just glared at him in displeasure.

By now, his arm had begun to hurt from such strain. "Brother, slow down!"

As if those were the words to stop it, everyone seemed to pause at the sound of them being spoken. Edward stopped as well, still holding Al's arm as if scared that he would run the second he let go.

"All must board trains 1-5, lagers or enabled will be shot," a voice boomed above the still present noise, hushing each voices except for the few officers. The one who spoke it was hidden from Al's view, two men blocking his way. The movement resumed and everyone bustled onto the awaiting trains though their murky appearance.

Still caught in the trance at the man's words, Al barely heard what Edward shouted at him.

"Al! Hurry up, there isn't much time," he repeated, tugging on Al's arm to move him through the also desperate crowd. Managing to keep up with Edward's rapid pace, Alphonse watched as he used his elbow to nudge away people in his way, seeming to inflict some sort of pain to move them.

The train horn blasted, echoing in the boy's ears. Scrambling to grab hold of anything to support his frail body, Alphonse took a single glance back at the crowd for one person.

"Brother, we forgot Roy!" he exclaimed, wrenching his arm away from the grip that held it.

Ed only gave him a puzzled look, tinted with annoyance. "Roy?"

Al nodded hurriedly, looking wildly around in hope that he had made it onto the train. "He's here, I talked to him. Maybe he can help u-"

He was cut off by the sudden anger in Ed's expression, the final horn washing away the words that escaped his mouth. A man pushed past him, knocking him to the ground roughly and to Al's horror; off the train itself.

A bit shaken from the knock he had received, he opened his eyes to see what was left of his hope slowly drift away. Ed shouted his name but was soon lost in the uproar of those left behind, his hand waving in the air almost in a way that he hoped to reach out to him.

"Brother!" Al yelled back but was too late. The small form was already out of sight by the time he had pulled himself up. Tears welled up in the boy's eyes from the sudden flash of reality; he was all alone. The rest who had been left behind argued amongst themselves, some breaking down before the rest while others bottled it up and taking out their rage in words.

"All must now form a line, down onto your knees with both hands behind your back," the recognizable voice roared, officers already scattered to arrange everyone. The salty substance still lingering in the corner of his eyes, he was pushed in between to men with fixed looks on their otherwise weary face.

"Pathetic, ain't it?" The man beside him sighed heavily, shaking his head in a hopeless manner. "I thought I might survive to see me daughter but, y'know, life ain't meant to be takin' for granted."

His accent slurred some of the words but Al nodded politely to show that he agreed.

"How old er yeh?" the man questioned, looking Alphonse straight in the eye.

"Eighteen," he replied in a whisper, frightened that the men who decided their fate would over hear their conversation and decide to use them for the first targets.

"Pitty, such a young fella like you shouldn't be here, eh?"

Once more he nodded. Slowly getting into the positioned they were ordered to, the first shot rang out followed by a thump.

* * *

He couldn't believe it, _wouldn't _believe it. Craning to see as far back as he could, the building that clustered together formed a barrier that couldn't be seen past. Unable to control the anger, Edward's hand clasped into a fist and punctured the seat angrily.

"You're Edward...?" a voice aroused above the rest, causing him to glance away from the window to his left. It was dark despite the two or so broad windows on either side of the 'train cart' but the face of the stranger who had approached him was clear. "A boy was searching for you."

"I know," he replied shortly, not in the mood to talk to Roy. "He's my brother."

"Is he now?" the man asked once more, glancing at the empty space beside Edward. A blunt look of pain crossing his face.

"He didn't…"

The sentence trailed off by itself and Ed found no need to finish it. Roy seemed to be quieted by the words as well and merely took a seat before him, ignored by the blonde.

"He's better off somewhere else."

* * *

More shots, each ending with either a scream or a thump. By then, Alphonse was shaking terribly, his hands moving from his back to the ground just by the trembles. The footsteps grew closer and closer, stopping every so often to let out yet another lethal attack.

A loud chorus of laughs echoed beside him. They were told to keep their heads down once more as a gun shot rang out, blood slipping past the cracks of the pavement and finding its way before Al. The crimson liquid traveled from his right and quietly, he titled his head. The man who had first acknowledged his presence now lay in a heap of red, a look of shock and unusual calmness plastered against his paling face.

Alphonse's eyes squeezed close and his body tensed as the cold metal now found its way against the back of his neck, sending shivers running up and down his spine.

"Hands up, off the ground."

Al did as he was told.

_3… 2… 1…_

* * *

**Ayumi- I adore hearing that I decide people's fates, makes me feel like a superhero… Maybe even like superman O.O Women… Superwomen.**

**Aevium- Yep, it's Roy xP ****I guess you got what you wished, Ed was the magical little person who pulled him up. But then he fell back down… And you're not the only one, I goggle over fics hours and hours. Thank you so much for the long review, very entertaining to read nods**

**Wyvernna- Ooo, I got puppy dogged xD ****Thank you for the review!**

I really didn't know what direction to take this chapter in so after a couple of minutes, I finally decided to leave Al behind. Poor kid falls more then I do and I'm clumsy O.o

Apologies for anything that doesn't make sense or any grammar errors, my editor abandoned me and I'm not the best at revising and such... And if I made Roy a bit out of character x.x

Thank you once more to everyone who reviewed, reviews give me motivation to continue writing so please, I love hearing from you guys


	3. Shattered

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 3: **

**Shattered**

* * *

His heart pounded in his chest, feeling as if it was about to burst. Alphonse squeezed his eyes shut even more, hoping to hold back the tears that had already slipped. They laughed behind him greedily and most still worried about their own lives took a few seconds to see what the up hold was. Maybe they were torturing him, leaving him until the last so _he _would see everyone scattered on the floor with the crimson covered street.

_Mother… Brother… I'm s-_

His thoughts were knocked away by the sudden impact of the gun, his breathe taken with it as well.

* * *

Edward's eyes didn't move growing duller and duller as the small town soon faded into the mist sheeting the ground.

"Alphonse," he murmured, trying his hardest to hold himself from jumping off the train at his own will. It wouldn't help, if not kill him the instant he hit the ground, and what would that lead to?

The faster the landscape flew by the more his heart sunk, the soft expression on his face becoming cold. Roy shuffled before him, seeming nearly curious of his attitude towards the situation.

"Hm, most would break down with seeing such a thing," he pondered, a frown forming on his face as the sentence rolled on.

"I don't," Ed replied with a grunt, not moving his fixed gaze.

_Why the hell am I still staring? It's not like he'll come running back._

The thought made him feel foolish, now being the one with a frown plastered to his face. He shook his head.

"I won't get easier, your brother would be a living miracle if he survived, but in Auschwitz-" Roy began slowly but was cut off by the blond quickly.

"Of course it won't be easier, what did you expect a kiddy ride!" Edward exclaimed, his voice rising to the point where most of the train cart was listening. He could careless, nothing mattered any more. He had lost everything in less then a couple of minutes and all because of the recklessness of another.

"Edward, lower your voice," Roy growled, seeming to dislike the sudden wave of attention on his part.

"Who the hell is that bastard that pushed him off anyway?"

Silence. Ed mumbled a few curses to himself out of shear frustration before returning to looking out the window, now with a glare.

"That blonde boy?" a voice suddenly spoke up, Ed's head shooting to its direction. The man had a look of pure doubt on his face, almost confused that he had done something so wrong. "It was an accident, he could have been pushed off by someone else too, not ju-"

"An accident?" Ed shouted, standing up for the first time since he had boarded the train. The man was barely a few feet away from him and within a couple of steps Ed had the man pinned against the wall by the collar. Fear crossed his face but all instinct to let him go failed to aware Edward.

"Edward!" he heard Roy shout but Ed ignored him and only tightened his choke hold.

"My brother's dead because of your _accident_!" he shouted, his prosthetic arm stronger than his left and choking the man continuously to the point where he could only cough out his replies.

The anger in Edward's eyes disappeared as a rough blow to his head sent him toppling back from the man, a gun shot silencing the loud whispers. A warm liquid trickled down from his hair line, forming a tight current and slowly slipping down the side of his face.

"Who else decides to begin such a ruckus?" the officer growled, the faint outline of two SS visible on the badge he wore in an obnoxiously proud manner. No one obliged or spoke up, the fear of being killed there on the spot seeping into everyone's mind including Roy's who backed off. It was quiet besides the thumping of the officer's foot and the coughing of the man who Edward had came close to killing, now bent over and gasping for each little bit of air.

Seconds flew by and a final order was given out before the group left, leaving behind a frightened and disoriented crowd. Edward himself was still trying to take in what they had said, spoken so swiftly and hushed that only those close enough had heard it. The man glanced at him, gasping still and a panicked look sprayed across his face clearly.

"Edward, you could have killed us," Roy growled, offering to help the wounded blond up only to be declined.

"I promised my brother something."

His response was a whisper and not finding to repeat it necessary, Edward wiped away the blood hastily, his sleeve dripping in seconds.

"Promised who?" Roy asked once more, only getting a few words out of the jumble. Ed shook his head, sitting back down in his seat and ignoring the looks of anger and fear shot towards him.

"_What if something bad happens? What if one of us dies? Then what would hap-"_

"_If one of us dies, the other will as well."_

"_How?"_

_The eldest chuckled at his brother's repetitive questions, smiling slightly._

"_Don't worry about it Al, we'll always be together."_

* * *

_Am I alive?_

The question was stupid, of course he was, how else could he be thinking it to himself?

_But how?_

A hand grasped his collar, pulling him to his feet.

"This one's alive!"

Realization finally took its swing at him and his eyes snapped wide open, taking in the scene around him. There were bodies beside him, around him, all with a ghostly pale look on their peaceful faces. He barely had time to move before he was thrown to the ground heavily, kicked in case he has lost conscious upon impact.

Alphonse could hear their voices but lost track of what they were saying from the abnormal pains now attacking his shoulder. Attempting to apply some pressure to loosen the bleeding, his hand refused to move. It ignored any signals his brain sent, weakening at just that.

His eyes closed once more, narrowing to only see the dusty boots of those before him and the blood encircling his body slowly; the streets surrounding him flipping into a shade if black and the rest was silenced.

* * *

**Aevium: **Was it truly that awesome - I'm not sure if anybody really… 'Saved' Al or just sort of let him be o.o

**Renneh: **Your review made me laugh so hard, heck I'm still laughing xD My friend slapped me for making Al fall off the train, she really does adore him ..

**Blue Shadow Alchemist: **Yah, yah, to lazy to put your whole username u.u WW2 happens to be one of my interests as bad as that sounds. I guess that's another reason why I made this fic O.o

**Kaiho Inutaime**I know!

**EdwardElricsFan4Ever: **I liked the original Hughes, the other one can go… Do something. Thank you '

**Keena**Woah, don't hurt yourself (though I do love reactions like that xP).

I was arguing with myself whether or not Ed should really start hurting the man or just leave at that but, I decided to add a choking scene xP

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and please, keep doing so. I love comments, their like coffee in a way O.o


	4. Arrival

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 4: **

**Arrival**

* * *

"Edward, hurry up."

The blonde had no intention of hurrying, due to the fact that he was hurrying to the death camp. To his luck, he soon caught up with the slow pace of Roy. The bundle of people poured out of the trains, filling the area rapidly though most lingered in the back. Officers were everywhere from his view point, looking down anyone and everyone at one point.

"Do you smell that? They're burning our wives and children!" a man suddenly shouted at the sky, flakes of white brushing down upon them. Ed made a face at the unbearable stench, a disgusted look easily coming out of it.

The wall of soldiers shouted at one another, blocking what lay behind the barb wire fence. A large sign hung above their heads and Ed squinted to catch a glimpse of what it read before they were ordered to do anything other then arrange themselves in rows.

**EXTREME DANGER**

**HIGH VOLTAGE**

Edward frowned, gazing back to the officer that seemed to be running down the lines yelling at everyone to drop their belongings into the bucket he carried. Some declined and were beaten to the ground.

Roy seemed nervous by the sudden movement and kept looking at the nearing man.

"Place your belongings unless stated," the man ordered, nudging the boy roughly with the plastic container.

"Can't be older then 7," Roy sighed as the boy shook his head rapidly, both hands clasped firmly together in defense. The man grunted, glaring at him and repeating his words briskly but loudly. Once more, the boy answered with a fearful whimper and a shake of the head. Edward had to use all his will to keep from standing up for the kid.

The man glared at him and shoved the bucket into his face, blood spurting out of the boy's nose immediately on impact.

"Hey!" Edward shouted but was only ignored. The boy screamed in pain but received more vital hits until the few coins his hands held dropped into the pool of blood below him.

"Place your belongings unless stated."

With a look of hatred on his face, the blonde dug through his coats pocket hastily and dropped a few coins into the bucket. His pocket watch was clear in view, a stupid mistake he had made. Pausing momentarily to take one last look at it, his hand tightened its hold but slowly loosened to drop it in.

"Sorry Al," he murmured once more, averting his attention to the ground below his feet; the screams slowly blocked out.

"Place your belongings unless stated."

* * *

"He's awake."

Alphonse groaned out of pain, tired of holding it in. Slowly opening his eyes to see who had so kindly taken him, he was met with a surprising scene. The man smiled at him in a friendly manner though the annoyance in his face was clear, his blue eyes glinting behind a pair of thin wired glasses.

"W-Whe-"

"The medical barrack, you're pretty lucky kid," the doctor sighed, shaking his head as if doubting that the young man was still alive. "They brought you in a couple hours ago. I'm Dr. Adler."

"They? Who are they, why am I here? Where is my brother?"

The questions poured out of him mouth quickly and if only it weren't for the intense pain in his right shoulder would he have continued the viscous mumbling.

"Take it easy, you have to stop talking for a second, they'll be expecting you sooner or later," the doctor sighed once more, seeming to do so often. Alphonse nodded though he wanted to repeat himself again for the sake of understanding. Shifting uncomfortably on the hard mattress, his nose twitched at the sudden unpleasant smell flooding through the crack in the stained window above. It was sweet in a way but sick in multiple more. As soon as he had smelled it, screams chorused from outside followed by heavy footsteps.

"You're in Auschwitz and 'they' are the Schutzstaffel, the SS Troopers. They're the ones who decide your life now," he said in a matter-of-fact way, oblivious to the screams now ringing through Alphonse's ears and burrowing into his head.

"Schutzstaffel?" Alphonse repeated, disliking the way the word sounded on his tongue and immediately switching the topic as quickly as he could. "Where is my brother?"

Dr. Adler gave him a surprised look, his laughter filling the otherwise silent room. "We're in Auschwitz, for all anyone knows he could be dead or walking towards it."

His chuckled once more but immediately stopped once the glare in Al's eyes was visible.

"How could you say that?" Alphonse shouted, pushing away the sheets covering his body and standing up in a feeble way. The doctor's mood switched at the response and a look of paranoia crossed his wrinkled face.

"Where are you going? You can't leave yet!" he called after the wobbling boy but made no attempt to stop him from the wooden chair he sat in.

Alphonse ignored his plea and shoved open the door, continuing his walk towards the blurred exit. No one noticed his presence until he tumbled outside, landing on his knees in the blood stained dirt. His eyes widened and tears choked his throat.

The sky was dirty, grey clouds scattered around to hide the true color. Buildings towered around him, some holding a stronger stench than others; but the true horror lay before him. Lines of hundreds of people stood in his way, most sobbing to themselves of what the future held for them. Heads shaven and nude, they climbed into the pit dug before them, lying down in stacks until only their heads showed.

Al's hands were shaking and his body froze as one of the men ordering them into their stances moved his straight stare to his form.

"You…" the man grinned, shouting a few words in German to his companions, one including a rather large man sitting at the edge of the pit with his feet dangling over the blood soaked bodies with a guttural feel to his laugh as more bodies came. "Come."

* * *

**Renneh- **I know I'm cruel aren't I? I sort of felt bad for poor Al being all alone and such. I don't mean to make so many cliffhangers, they annoy me in stories and yet I'm continuously making them. Terrible, huh?

**Keena- **First reviewer injured! I guess to make it a bit simple, Al won't be feeling his shoulder for quite some time, I mean, you wouldn't either if you got shot there x.x

**Anime and all that other stuff- **I'm glad you like it, nice username by the way xP Mine's so bland…

**Chamed-Envy-Fangirl- **Like a goat? That made me laugh, I imagined Al turning into a goat then falling off u.u Pfft, of course I used Hitler's mustache! Now just jumping topics like a frog, we had to write a short story in Language Arts once. I used the Holocaust as my theme and aced it -feels so proud though it was 3 days overdue-

**Blue Shadow Alchemist- **I couldn't kill Al! He's the main character here! The eyewitness accounts literarily make me cry, their the main resources that all the facts in the story are based off of. I read one of an 8 year old Polish girl and I cried like there's no tomorrow. It was disgusting what they do to them. And it touched me more then usual since my dad's side is Polish…

**EdwardElricsFan4Ever- **I'm forgetful to so, it's all go xP If I saw Hughes and he showed me those pictures, it would include fire and a knife…

**Ayumi- **Woah, just woah xD No, he wasn't in the pile of bodies or/and naked, he was still a heap on the streets (sorry ;P). Thank you for the review.

**Wow, long review list. Of course I can always reply to them on the review page but I'm way too lazy to do so, though I might in the future… Thank you to everyone who reviewed and please, do so continue xD**


	5. Horrific Introductions

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 5:**

**Horrific Introductions**

* * *

Alphonse froze at the man's words, unsure of what was real anymore and whether he had actually said anything to him. The pit's hostages grew larger and larger with each shout until his angle from the ground gave him a perfect view of their blood shot eyes, blood covering each head thickly.

"Alphonse!"

Dr. Adler's voice broke through the noise around him, the older man running out of the medicine barrack as he shouted his name once more. Disoriented, Alphonse looked back at the panicking doctor but immediately regretted it as a rough blow sent him tumbling to the ground.

"You're the _scientist_?"

His eyes grew dark, Alphonse only nodding as a reply. Hughes had told both him and his brother about the 'Nazis' way. He would have a better chance of surviving he was somewhat useful; answering no to the question could only wind him up dead faster than saying yes. But for some reason, right now, nothing really mattered to him at all. Everything was pointless and his brother could be dead. He would be better of dead for the matter but for some reason he kept choosing to live. It was ridiculious.

"Are you?" By now the man's voice had turned harsh and Al's cheek stung from just the son of the words being spoken.

"Yes," Al replied, his teeth gritting together until they snapped and his hands squeezing together into fists. Streaks were left on the ground where his fingers had managed to drag some dirt into the hold.

The officer exploded with laughter, a smile forming on his otherwise emotionless face.

"So what they told me was partly true, you're going to help with those fools instead of just being a pity case. Though such 'pity cases' don't exist here now do they?" he rambled, leaning the rifle he held onto against his shoulder. Al was silent, confused about whether or not he should answer to the question the man had included or stay quiet.

_I'm going to help who? And with what?_

"Fill the pits!"

A horn blared in the distance loudly and a group of soldiers identical to the ones back home ran past the two and towards another group of people just waiting for their deaths. The soldier towering over him didn't appear to have noticed the call and only glared down upon the boy.

"Hm, what to do with you now," he grinned in a taunting fashion, grabbing Alphonse by one arm. Al bit back a yelp as too much strain was applied on his wounded shoulder. Once more, the man was oblivious.

"I'll send someone to show you where Dr. Josef Mengele is stationed."

"Dr. Jos-"

Al was cut off as the man let go of him and he swayed. The officer shouted at the one still swinging his feet merrily over the pit and laughing with every shot.

_Who is…_

His thoughts trailed off as his words and Alphonse could only watch as the man approached him, exchanging a quick word with the other before nodding to show he understood.

"Come on kid, you'll have lots to learn from Dr. Mengele," he grinned, showing a set of dirty teeth to add to his already messy appearance.

"Who is he, sir?" Alphonse asked as he stumbled to catch up with his oddly quick pace. They were nearing a large building where the stench emitting off of its wall sent chills down the boy's spine; though his fear of what was inside seemed greater then anything else.

"He conducts experiments, a rather smart man in my eyes," the officer replied briskly with a stern face to match.

"Experiments? On who?" Alphonse replied even though he regretted not keeping his mouth shut.

"On who? _Them_ of course!" the officer replied with a disgusted tone to his voice at the word 'them', as if it was bad to say in public. Al's eyes widened, unable to believe what he was hearing.

_Why!_

He wanted to ask it, so much that it was at the end of his tongue. Experimenting on humans seemed horrific, unbelievable to him and it hurt to know that such torture was happening behind the walls of the brick building he now stood before. The metal door attached limply to its side creaked as the officer pushed it open, motioning for the boy to go in before him.

Stepping in momentarily, he almost stepped back out as the stench filled his nose rapidly. Badly lit, he could see another door attached to the wall facing him thanks to the dim light outside. As the door slammed shut behind him, the officer walked calmly towards the door and unlocked it with a pair of keys he held.

"Go on, he's expecting you," the man exclaimed, waving a hand for Alphonse to come closer.

"Why me!" the boy finally growled, taking a weary step forward.

The man's grin was invisible but Al could tell it was there. "You're the only readily available scientist, the other is dead."

_Dead?_

He couldn't mean Edward, could he? Tears flooded Al's eyes and in attempt to hide them, he wandered into the room. A single child, lying with one eye open in a tank of water wore somewhat of a garment as he bobbed lifelessly in the pool of ice. Two or so men crowded around him, checking his heart beat and mumbling to the one beside a monitor.

Al shrugged back into the shadows but was spotted and smiled at.

"Alphonse, how nice of you to join us."

His voice was light and almost immediately, Al knew it was the doctor everyone had talked about previously.

"What the hell are you doing!" he shouted angrily, trying his hardest not to stare at the child's corpse.

"You are a scientist, are you not?" the man retorted, shaking his head at Al's reaction. "We are merely looking for cures."

Al was overwhelmed. How could freezing children be a cure? How could it even be an experiment as they called it? More then ever, he wished he wasn't facing this alone. He wanted to leave.

* * *

They had already separated the groups, females on the left and males on the right. Edward glanced wearily at the ground, annoyed and angry at the situation plain and simple. Even when they were ordered to get into groups of eight, he barely moved excepted took a simple step closer to Roy. Six more shuffled in their direction and soon there were a series of small groups here and there. The waiting SS officers spread out and each began questioning a member of the group.

"Name?"

"Edward Elric," he replied flatly, avoiding the man's eyes.

"Age?"

"Nineteen."

His answers were simple and short compared to the few that rambled on out of fear.

"Any past surgeries, health problems, sicknesses, amputations, diseases or other medical problems?"

He shifted slightly at the word amputation, worried on whether or not the man would whack him around a bit to see if he was telling the truth.

"No."

His body remained tense as the questioning continued.

"Family members?"

Edward stalled, unsure of what to reply. Al was alive, he had a strong feeling he was but that small voice in the back of his head kept saying the opposite. Al was dead.

"Any family members?" the SS officers repeated once more impatiently.

"… No."

Ed could feel his heart sinking, unsure of why he hadn't said yes. But what would happen if Al was dead? Why the hell was he even thinking that, it's his brother!

"Occupation, part time or full?"

Great, now what was he supposed to say? 'I study so I can find my way back to _my_ world'?

"None."

Ed glared at how intelligent it made him sound, saying he was a scientist would have been better but that could possibly lead to even more questions which he was growing uncomfortable with.

The SS officer grunted and moved on to Roy who answered as simply as he could.

Shivering against a false cold, all he could do now was wait. Wait until the questions were over and they were ordered to do something else. It was sick but in the end, it would be his daily routine.

It finally came and all handicaps, ill and mentally ill were now ordered to step to the side where a guard was standing. A few shuffled over but Ed remained, shaking almost as a guard scanned over the groups.

"Move!"

The barb wire gates had already opened and the remaining of the once large group now shuffled through, one or two glancing back at those still standing with the officers and waving or shouting at them.

It was dirty, the mud gathering on the bottom of Ed's shoes quickly as he shuffled through the small pathway. He could see the organized arrangement of buildings, smoke puffing out of them and filling the sky to turn it black. He could barely see the sun and yet the air around him was both hot and choking.

He was angry; angry of what they would and are doing with them. Angry and yet sad that he couldn't do anything to stop it. All his life, he could do something, anything though he wouldn't. Now, he can't because it's out of his league and only suffering could come out of his actions. A man shouted and Ed blinked out of his thoughts.

"Move it!"

The officers guided them like sheep to what appeared to be a large room. Everyone hurried in but Ed slowed his pace and found himself once more straining to keep up with the others. Roy had tagged along with him like a lost child and for some reason, he was happy for the odd company though they had barely exchanged a few words.

They were forced to line up in horizontal rows, all facing one man holding a rifle and the two beside him.

"Everyone strip down!" he roared, shooting the gun in the air. Everyone began around Edward but he was slow. They were checking everyone, making sure everyone was fit enough and those who had claimed not to be crippled and slipped by would be found. Unbuttoning his shirt quietly, his eyes were focused on his hand, wondering how much longer he had before they found him. Every so often, as he removed the rest of his clothing Ed would glance around to make sure no one was watching him and to his luck, no one was. They were all to busy with themselves.

They had already begun checking everyone when Ed finished, setting his shoes down before him and listening to them yell at each other every so often when they found a crippled. So far, 2 had been made to leave the group and gun shots could be heard in the distance. They were dead.

His automail was showing perfectly and Ed looked worriedly at the group to see where the officers were heading. To his horror, one was approaching his row. Everyone stood a bit straighter as he glanced them over, prodding their shoulders and knees before moving on to the next.

Even Roy seemed a bit nervous and almost erupted once he looked down upon the blonde beside him.

"You're…" his words trailed off as he shook the mop of black hair. "Foolish choice boy."

"No talking!"

At that, Roy straightened up and the SS officer kept coming closer as each person was checked over. He knew it would happen. He would be dead by the time the next batch came in.

He had failed and Ed growled at just the thought. He normally didn't but when he did, it felt like not only had he failed himself; he had failed everyone. Al, Mom; everyone. He had failed them all and the only difference for this is that it would be the last time. The last time he hurt.

* * *

By far the longest chapter xD Sorry for the long delay, my head is acting up and giving me terrible headaches and I had about 5 different choices to make on which way the story would go. I ended up choosing one that I personally thought would be different to write then what I normally would, so here I am winging it xP

To get a few things cleared up on Dr. Josef Mengele: You've probably heard of him, most of my friends haven't and that's what leads me to this little bio. Dr. Mengele was both an SS trooper and physician in Auschwitz. He did various experiments on all age groups and genders. Most including one that I have added to this chapter one which the 'victim' would be immersed in cold water and pretty much stay there to see how long it would take for his body temperature to drop until death. Other experiments he has conducted are stitched to children together (I read about it and it is utterly disgusting), attempting to change the eye color by injecting chemicals in a person's eye, sterilization and shock treatments and amputating working limbs. He is one nasty character and this story caused me to do some studying about him (which horrified me) but, he ties in and will later on play a large role.

**Anyway, that that's cleared up; I'm sorry for the long delay once more, my life is rather a mess and I'll get the next chapter up much more quickly. I have decided to reply to the reviews since obliviously I'm crowding my little memo down here with my long responses and thank you once more to everyone who did review. Please continue telling me what you think since I'm overjoyed to read them x**


	6. Smile

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 6: **

**Smile**

* * *

"Change into these clothes!" 

Ed's head snapped in the man's direction, awed by the sudden change. He was just a few feet away from death and for once, was glad the crowd was there. He easily slipped into it and found himself surrounded and his automail nearly impossible to see from their view. Ed felt like crying from joy, heck he almost did but the blurred feel in his eyes disappeared when he remembered something. What did he just accomplish? Another way of dying?

Frustration took over and he grumbled slightly and he slipped on the clothing they had been given; a simple striped long sleeved shirt and pants that were both too big for him. Ed didn't really care though, his automail was hidden and that was all that mattered.

"Anyone who hasn't been examined return to your row," the man shouted once the majority had changed. It all became clear to him why they had ordered them into rows, to keep track of how many were left. Shuffling back to the row now cut in half, the conversations some shared were only hushed as more orders were released.

"Those who have are to follow," the SS trooper appearing to be in charge barked at the others and left with a small trail of stripes behind him.

Ed didn't want to be a pile of stripes, he refused to. No matter how sick he felt, he knew very well he had no say in it. Staying silent except for the few movements of his head to see where Roy had wandered off to, he finally spotted the black haired man a couple rows behind him. There were a lot of people still waiting and it surprised Ed slightly. What were they planning?

"Move!" a man ordered, poking Ed's ribs roughly with the tip of his rifle; him being the closest target available. It jabbed deeply into his skin and he knew there would be a bruise but Ed didn't object and only began walking outside the building into the thickly scented air.

They were all huddled together, the upcoming crowd. Some with teary eyes while others with pure frustration marked on their stern faces. Most just seemed worried as they walked past the group of stripes, mumbling amongst themselves as if this was some foreign circus. It was, most people shouldn't even have to imagine watching the situation they were in.

Only stopping once he was told to, he felt like an animal being ordered around. Though his frustration could have easily showed on his face, he replaced it with an emotionless mask.

"One straight line with your backs facing me," the man shouted over the already filling noise of guns being shot and screams ringing through everyone's ears. Yet, the SS trooper remained oblivious to it.

Wedged between two men wearing the same attire as him, he heard the faint sound of continuous 1's and 2's. Each person was numbered and Edward was given a 2. He couldn't tell which one was better, not that either was the choice he wanted.

"1's will follow the rest and 2's will stay."

That was the order and most scattered away to catch up with the rest.

_There goes Roy._

Watching the man walk away with the rest under the officer's gaze sent chills running down his spine. He had Al but lost him and now Roy had gone as well, saddened though he had barely known the man for more then three days. He was the only one left no matter what. Frowning into his thoughts, he had barely enough time to make anything else of them before they were called to run.

Edward was in good shape, a simple fact. Though the muddy ground below him slowed his pace, he kept up easily with the front of the group while the more slower members lagged behind and only received a chorus of shouts to move faster; in which they followed immediately. If they stopped they were shot and if they fell they were shot twice. He even watched one of the men in the front get shot in the knee and caused two more to fall as well as they bumped into him. They were all shot and what for? The man's enjoyment and a guttural laugh.

Looking around in attempt to identify the area they were heading towards and hide his eyes from the series of blood markings on the ground below, Edward struggled to even realize what direction they were facing. He couldn't tell anything. It was a plain of mud and dust sheeted with gray clouds and streams of brown smoke with the only land marking outside the set of buildings being a large trail of smoke in the distance. Was that where they were heading for?

As soon as he had found it, he lost it. They were ordered to follow the outskirts; a complete tour of the area. As they passed, Edward could see from the large opening where windows once were the men getting their heads shaved. Why wasn't he? Though he fussed about it, his hair had grown to his liking. It was more then a couple of hours before they were called to a stop. The group had shrunk, defiantly by a few tens. It was a different examination but his body had outlasted it.

Still confused about the dilemma and ignoring the orders, he found himself getting pushed around as the crowd headed towards the building the other had before. His stomach lurched but he followed, scared to be in the back with the others still gasping for oxygen to fill their strained lungs. More gun shots.

Once they had entered the small building everyone was shaved, appearing as if the man doing so had also been by the fuzz visible on his otherwise bald head. Ed watched silently as blonde locks tumbled down before his eyes and when it was over, brushed them off his somewhat dirty clothing. Running and having his head shaved; it wasn't what he wanted for the day but he kept his mouth shut and moved to the waiting line of bald men.

They made them run once more, Ed refusing to show how truly tired he was. Everyone ran a bit faster now that they had seen the consequences. An hour? Two? Three? Edward had lost count the second they had passed the identical train that had lead them to this hell hole. Everything was different, and he hated it. Finally, they ordered them to stop.

Ed waited, waited for what seemed twice the time they had ran. No one spoke a word and only huddled together. All except for him who preferred to stand away from the rest. That caught some attention.

_Al, are you still alive?_

The thought was troubling him and it continued to do so as he squinted angrily at the murky sky. Bald and in stripes, what would everyone back home think of him now? That only added to his annoyance as he pictured the familiar faces. They soon faded away as they were called to run once more and once more, he had to push himself to keep survive.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He couldn't look at them straight; none of them. The scientists called him Alphonse or Elric while the others he encountered called him Blondie. Al hated it, hating even the sound of his own name since it was used by them. They hadn't taken out the body; they merely let it bob for a couple more hours. While it slowly became paler, he was asked to do various things, such as bring the next 'lab rat' in.

The men and women's faces haunted him, carving deep into his brain. All of them had a look of fear and confusion as if itching to scream, "Why am I here? Where are you taking me?"

It shattered his heart and multiple times had the shadows hid the tears he would wipe away with his shirt's sleeve that now hung drenched on his arm.

"Alphonse, please retrieve this lady and bring her back to the lab," Dr. Mengele sighed in his fake calm voice. Al took the piece of paper containing where she was found and silently left without a second glance or word. He could voice his opinion about refusing to do so; it was just a mere matter of having someone who cared to take it seriously.

Leaving the building in a hurry, he avoided the pit. Its horrific presence echoed behind him and he moved his focus to the piece of paper.

_**Silena Reinman**_

Frowning upon the scribbled writing, he made his way to the area section off for women. An uncomfortable feeling set in on his stomach and he only focused on the ground to avoid the odd stares he had received. Even some of the men ordering them into lines gave his frame a glance. He didn't want to be here.

Struggling to find any words to say, he re-read the description on the back twice to make sure he had the right person in view. What if he chose the wrong one? That would make two people dead under his command. It already pained him enough to have to fetch one and make her a guinea pig of theirs torturous experiments. Scanning the area, he finally met the description.

She couldn't be younger then 10, having been told that anyone below the age of 9 would be separated and used for other purposes. Alphonse never asked any other questions after that.

"Um, Miss… Are you Silena Reinman?"

It was stupid but he couldn't say it anyway and the girl was already beside her mother who he received a hard glare from. Emerald eyes peered up at him and the visible scars on her face were finally clear. Her face appeared to be put back together with the messy stitches here and there that only oozed puss and a continuous flow of blood.

"Yes." Her voice was shaky and quivering and tears filled the corner of her eyes. Al stopped, unsure of how to word the next part.

"Could you come with me?" Alphonse managed to say. Her mother had a look of pure fear and in a fury of sadness; she fell to her knees with her hand clutching Silena's tightly enough to break it.

"God, please protect her, please," she sobbed uncontrollably but finally let go off the weak 13 year old once it had slowly began to form a scene. Al shifted uncomfortably and only shook his head as a SS trooper gave him a questioning look.

Once they departed, Silena remained silent as Al. It was hard to look at such a feeble girl, especially since she limped with each little step and the tears remained attached to her eyes.

"My momma said I'll always come back," the little girl suddenly said, a light tone to her quiet voice. Looking down upon her in surprise, Al tried to find a reason why the girl still had a small smile on her face.

"She must care for you," Al replied, blocking out any remembrances of his own mother.

"No matter how many times they take me apart and put me back together, she always said if I don't make it I'll meet her up there."

And with those words, Silena pointed up to the sky with a shaking finger. Al took the time to glance up and sighed. The girl had some confidence and hope still left while he had none and she was the one being taken apart. The sound of those words nearly made him throw up.

"It hurts a bit but I always trust in what my momma says. I trusted her when she said we wouldn't be separated and we weren't… Do you trust yours?" Silena continued, glancing up at the young man once the question escaped her mouth.

Al stiffly opened the door, hearing the bloodcurdling screams from within before her.

"Yes, yes I do."

Silena walked in before him as he had stopped in his steps. Al couldn't imagine where she got all the hope from, this place lacked it immensely. Keeping his eyes on the door before him, he opened it and she once more took the lead. He didn't want to go in but when his last name was called abruptly, he blinked away the tears as best as he could. He knew he would be the one watching her die.

"I'm so sorry."

* * *

Well there it is, the first chapter without a cliffie and I'm proud of that. This chapter is also dedicated to one of my most enthusiastic friend who has helped me with past stories (on different sites) and always encouraged me to try my hardest and hurry with my updates. Yes, her name is the little girl's and I feel a tad bad about using it ;.; Anyway, a big thanks to everyone who took the time to review and has an abnormal amount of patience. I spent a good 4 hours at my desk ripping out my hair to get this done so I hope you enjoyed it and please review so I can hear your opinions. 

P.S: The lines (in the actual content of the story) were giving me a hassle whenever I edited it (eating up everything I wrote and creating odd gaps) so enjoy the X's xD


	7. Emotionless Act

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 7: **

**Emotionless Act**

* * *

_He _was given the honors of retrieving the new guinea pigs. Hate wasn't even close to what he felt for the doctors, furious maybe. Almost every person he brought never got to see their families since they didn't make it through the hour they were tortured. Just like Silena. They had wanted to amputate her remaining flesh leg to see if a new painkiller and prosthetic parts would work better then the ones they already had. But, she was too young to endure anymore and died right before him. Into the pit her body was thrown but not before blank eyes found themselves staring directly at Alphonse. For some reason, she reminded him to much of Edward. 

With shaking hands, he fumbled to open the door. The man behind him was oddly quiet compared to the others that had either spat out threats and death wishes or prayers to the god they believed in. The silence was punctured by the occasional gun shots and screams from outside and Alphonse felt more queasy then he had ever felt. More then when he realized where he was or got the first whiff of the stale stench.

_Why…_

"How the hell did you get out?" the man suddenly stated, causing the blonde to look at him with confusion, "And how did you grow back your hair so fast? I was there when they shaved **everyone's** head including yours!"

It took Al a few seconds to realize that the man wasn't just mumbling gibberish. A new sense of hope entered him rapidly as the man continued to give him questioning glares. His brother was alive after all.

"You must mean my brother, Edward… Is he doing-"

"Ok? Hell we're all shaken up!" was the gruff reply and Alphonse could now see the cross look on his face.

_He sure seems to like saying that word._

Alphonse frowned and shook his head. "Please go in."

"Please? Gah!" the man exclaimed rashly but did as he was told.

Dr. Mengele motioned for Alphonse to bring the now terrified man closer, and he did. His right hand hurt from his past refusal.

_**Al's blonde bangs brushed against his eyes as he shook his head rapidly. He wouldn't, couldn't. The needles were there, poised stiffly above the screaming five year old's eyes and Dr. Mengele had asked him to 'help' with the testing. Seeing the paranoid look on the little boy's face was enough to make Alphonse sure that he wouldn't go near that table.**_

_**"Ok, I respect your decision," Dr. Mengele replied. "Instead, please bring this man back here immediately." **_

_**Alphonse stepped forward, avoiding anyone's gazes and reached out for the slip of paper. His brain couldn't figure out why his fingers cracked but it did recognize the sudden drops of blood rolling off each finger.**_

_**"Learn to obey orders more properly," the doctor hissed and Al could only nod in response as he hid the pain with an emotionless mask.**_

A single bloody bandage clung to his hand. Al bit the inside of his cheek as it began to sting once more.

_Why am I alive? I should be dead, not here watching others die._

The man was restrained, his cries muffled from the outside and forced onto the dirt table. Alphonse watched as he struggled against the bonds only to be pulled back down.

He could hear the screams from outside the broken windows and the man's only added to them. Al felt helpless. Was that one his brother? What about the next? And the one after that? The tears had stopped and once more, he forced the emotionless act that now became daily.

"I… I hope both you and your brother rot in hell," the man spat between gasps. "To think you're related, I feel so sorry for him…"

The drug had trailed off his remaining words and Alphonse stared at his limp form.

_Am I truly that… Evil?_

His eyes didn't move, not an inch. They only narrowed as the man shouted out further comments.

_Everyone gives me that same look when they see me coming…_

The scientists moved quickly and Alphonse watched them with a different glint in his eyes.

_What would brother think? What would he say?_

"Alphonse! Give me a hand!" Dr. Mengele ordered and for once, Al didn't think about how angry or terrified the man must feel. He just took the needle he once loathed and slowly brought it down into the man's upper arm.

_I'm sorry…_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was more… Cleaner. He wasn't sure why but it was. Edward sat motionless on the top bunk, seeming that the one below was occupied. He didn't mind being near the ceiling but the stench from the door a few feet away choked him and made it nearly impossible to sleep. With an irritated sigh, he rolled over and forced his head into the straw mattress. The man beside him was mumbling nonsense and it had begun to annoy him greatly.

_If only Al was here._

The thought had burrowed its way into Edward's head and he snapped his eyes closed. He would have someone to talk to, someone to hope with; not the empty space or the loud man. He had originally bunked with another but he had been taken away earlier.

Ed bit his lip. The last look he had given Al was pure anger and he hated himself for that. It left a bad memory.

The door suddenly swung open and met the wall a few inches way from the back of his head sending shivers running down his spine.

"Move!"

The shouts awoke nearly everyone in the cramped barrack and Edward grew paralyzed at how close it was to him. A whip crackled against the side of his bed and in a single movement, he flipped himself over and slid off its edge. To his luck, he found himself inches away from an SS trooper.

"Move, dammit!"

He received a glare like no other and the whip clipped his shoulder. He stumbled back but managed to keep some balance. Blood gushed out abruptly and applying pressure on it with the opposite hand, Edward gritted his teeth and carried on outside. At least it wasn't his right shoulder and he was thankful for that. For all he knew, he could be dead on the cement floor.

They were lined up in a particular order, unknown to everyone but the SS men. Finding himself in the right side group, they remained in a line until further acts where shouted and they were ordered to run.

It felt like circles to Ed and it may have been for all he could guess. Finally, a group of men waiting by the edge of the gates motioned for them to come and line up. Many men around Ed gaped at the needles they held but the blonde stayed quiet, observing as the first person reached out and grabbed one of the men's arms. Tattoos of number. No one seemed to be comfortable with the idea but they endured it anyway.

When it was Ed's turn, the man tattooing his arm smeared the blood with his sleeve and punctured his skin with the needle's tip. It hurt, he couldn't lie but the automail operation was more painful then this and he could stand there and feel content. FX1726. That was his new 'name' as the SS troopers had roared out. It stung but Ed ignored the tingling.

They were once more ordered to run when everyone had received their new 'name'. The buildings seemed identical except for one that stood out from the rest. It was smaller and had a metallic door positioned in the center of the wall facing him. Few paid attention to it but something hooked Edward on its appearance. The group trailed around a pit that had been dug deeply with a series of corpses in neat stacks filling it. There was too much blood and his golden eyes looked away dully at the sight of the mess. His eyes did manage to see an officer standing over it with a lit match held in his hand. The corpses were all going to burn.

"Blondie! Get your ass over here!"

_Blondie?_

Ed craned his neck further in time to nearly trip over at the sight of the being now approaching the smug looking man. Could it be or were his eyes playing tricks on him? No, it was him. He was staring right back at him.

"Brother?"

* * *

Finally! The Elric brothers are reunited! I'm not sure why this chapter took so long to write up, maybe because I had a jumble of ideas in my head about how they would reunite or because I can't eat anything without nearly screaming because of my tooth. I promise to get the next chapter up quickly, scouts honor! I've never been a scout or a brownie or whatever else you can think of but a promise is a promise xD 

Thank you also to everyone who reviewed and keep 'em coming, very good motivation.


	8. Bloody Hands

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 8:**

**Bloody Hands**

* * *

"Alphonse!" 

His cry was diminished as Edward was knocked backwards by a single blow. Al watched in horror as the officer shoved the match in his hands and ordered him to light the pit before rushing over to accompany the other SS man.

"That's my brother!" Ed only shouted as he was forced once more on the ground, a small gun aimed at his head.

"Liar, you recently reported you had no living family," the officer snapped with a look of pure disgust.

"No family?"

Al glared at the words that had just escaped his mouth. Did Ed lie? Did he think he was dead? He didn't blame him but something about it just stung.

The match had nearly burned out in his fingers and the flames now licked the tips. Dropping it into the pile of corpses, Alphonse forced himself to ignore his brother has Edward screamed his name.

"Al!"

"Shut up!"

The sickening crack could be heard from Al's distance and he turned around to avoid seeing the bloody heap his brother had now become.

"I'm… Dead?" Al frowned and swallowed deeply as he hurried away from the scene swiftly. He had always had that reassuring thought that both him and Edward would reunite but not like this; the opposite if anything. His brother had thought he was dead all this time and everything Alphonse had believed was a lie.

Unsure of where he was truly going, he turned around in time to find himself lost in a crowd of stripes and shaved heads. How he hadn't noticed the sudden line up of men confused the blonde and he soon regretted it as mutters and mumbles of colourful words were aimed at him.

"Where's my sister?" one man gritted and clenched his teeth angrily. Al shook his head fiercely and shot out a few apologies but hurried to make it threw the continuously moving group. Where were they going?

"Alphonse?"

Once more, the friendly face of Roy appeared out of the blue and a sense of relief washed over the eighteen year old and he stumbled to keep up with the walking man.

"Roy! W-where are you g-going?" Al stammered, unable to keep his shaking hidden any longer. They stunk of death; dirt and mud smeared all over their baggy clothes and faces. The god-like icon Roy had portrayed himself back at home now disappeared at the sight of his miserable alter.

The man shrugged. "That building over there, they never told us properly."

"Building?" Without a word of goodbye, Alphonse stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face the building Roy had picked out. It was larger then the one he was used to being in and vents were placed numerously on the sides.

"Blondie, move!" one SS trooper shouted and Alphonse scurried away as quickly as he could without appearing to be running. It was a gas chamber, one of the buildings that helped stench the air. He had seen numerous men dragging out the limp bodies and tossing them into pits much like the one he had found himself burning.

"Roy!"

Nothing, so he tried once more but the black haired man didn't hear him.

He stood quietly and attempted not to stare. The thick line now bustled through its doors, vanishing behind its brick walls. Would his brother join them? No, he was still lying on the ground where they had beaten him. All because he had said Alphonse wasn't his brother and then was too caught up in the moment to remember saying so. He wasn't there to his brother's eyes and it hurt more then anything. More then watching the torture, more then becoming the torturer. As far as Al could see, nothing mattered anymore. He was dead; bloody hands and all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Edward wasn't sure why the normally muddy ground that his face had met was switched to concrete among his awakening. Deciding on whether or not to attempt to move form the curled up position he lay in, his arm throbbed too much along with his back. Was it broken? Maybe.

He rolled over and whimpered but opened both eyes to soak in his surroundings. He was back in the barrack, only a few inches away from the blood stain that had been left by his previous encounter. Most men were asleep along with his spot taken. Blinking and groaning, he forced himself up on his elbows and glanced around.

A few men had taken the time to look at him and whisper amongst themselves like school kids. The thin stream of light marked the curious looks on their faces.

"What?" he snapped, loud enough for a few bunks down to hear him. Hurrah, yet another set of odd looks and whispers.

Annoyed with the situation, Ed gave up on finding a comfortable position where neither his arm or back where in contact with anything hard and ended up slumping up against the wall. Al must hate him right now, judging by the shocked look that had first made its impression on him.

He could feel the time slip by though it seemed more like years waiting in this cluttered room. Normally he would take out his pocket watch and double check but it wasn't here; it was in _their _hands.

The door slammed open as it had done previously and he scooted over in a blink of an eye to miss its metal handle aimed for his head. What surprised him was that there was only one officer, a clipboard held tightly in his hand along with a pen and a grim look.

"FX1720 to FX1730 follow me," he shouted, a few out of the half asleep group moving out of their bunks in response. He remained seated until realizing that he was among the chosen. Ed stood up and filed in line, hiding the limp and slouch as best as he could without looking in pain.

They trailed behind the SS man, unsure of where they were heading. Approaching a broad span of tents, Edward was ordered to enter the one farthest from the group. Dragging his feet, he entered the small tent to see an old man hovering above a low table.

"Hello… Edward Elric, FX1726?" the man said in a questioning tone as he read one of the papers he held. Ed nodded quietly and sat down on the table when instructed to do so. "I see... I've seen your brother before I think."

Edward grunted, not in the mood of talking about his relations. "Oh…"

"Age?"

"Nineteen."

He felt weird, seeming to have to go through the asking and answering process once more.

"You seem overall healthy," the man pondered, almost making Ed laugh. One look at his prosthetic arm and leg and he'll be burning like the rest. The doctor poked and prodded his ribs and Ed cringed, gripping the table's edges tight enough to break them. "Hm, you'll have to take off your shirt."

Everything that could have gone wrong did. Al hated him, he was all alone **and** he would die in the next matter of minutes.

With a frown on his face, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it off, not bothering to unbutton it first.

"What a nice limb," the doctor chuckled.

"Please, I…" Ed stopped his begging since he didn't know what to say. He couldn't say "I can explain that I cheated the system and snuck in with prosthetic limbs" and saying that he could just explain plain and simple didn't work either. Mostly because he couldn't and if he did, wouldn't know how.

"Where did you get it? Its metal isn't it. Doesn't feel wooden…" the doctor exclaimed, trailing a hand down his arm. Ed immediately pulled away.

"An old friend," was his reply and he reached for his shirt. "So what are you going to do with me?"

The doctor only smiled with a glint behind the glasses he wore. It gave him an animal like appeal.

"Nothing."

Edward stared at him, half confused and half suspicious. "Nothing? Nada?"

The doctor nodded and only motioned for Ed to leave his shirt alone before scribbling something down on the piece of paper he had read his name off of.

"You have a broken rib and your arm seems to have a rather deep cut, it will most likely get infected sooner or later unless treated…"

Ed didn't reply, too caught up in the doctor's sudden decision to say otherwise. Something wasn't right.

"Pants." Once more, as the article of clothing came off and his leg showed, the doctor raised a brow at his prosthetic limb. "Your leg as well? What an accident you must have been in."

"Sure," Ed sighed, wanting this to be over as soon as possible without having to refer to the reason his limbs were gone.

"Interesting, very interesting," the old man mumbled to himself, writing yet another sentence down.

"What are you writing?"

"Notes." The doctor didn't seem to continue further so Ed once more demanded to know.

"About what?"

"Your condition."

Ed glared. "I have no condition," he spat. "It's about my limbs right?"

The man sighed, rubbing his wrinkled forehead with his thumb and pointer finger.

"I can easily avoid writing it down but they will know I'm the one who had done your check up and I will be the one sentenced to death as well. That is not a chance I'm willing to take," he replied, slowly at first before speeding up his words.

"Sick bastard," Ed merely spat, grabbing his clothing no matter what the doctor said.

"Your brother led my wife to her death!" he hissed.

"Al wouldn't do that!" Edward only shouted back. A loud tap came from outside, ringing through the tent. The doctor shook his head and let out a frustrated sigh.

"Everything is alright," he shouted. A grunt and the noise stopped.

"C-Can they see me?" Ed asked, focusing back on the fact that he still wasn't wearing any clothes and his prosthetic limbs showed clearly.

"From the light of the lantern I have here and the coming night, yes but only your silhouette from the outside.

Ed breathed a sigh of relief but continued with another question. "What time is it?"

The man paused to dig through his pocket and pull out a pocket watch he carried. _Ed's_ pocket watch.

"9: 30."

"That's my watch!" he shouted and the second his shirt was on, Ed took a quick swing at it and managed to grab its chain.

Tap. Tap.

"It's ok!" the doctor answered once more before gazing back upon Edward who had the watch clutched tightly in his prosthetic hand. "Nothing belongs to anyone here. In other words, this watch is no longer yours and it will never be as long as it remains in this camp."

Golden eyes narrowed, Ed nodded but didn't make a move to give back the possession he cherished.

The doctor sighed and only continued with the examination as had been planned. The shots Ed wasn't to fond of since he pushed them in to hard and the occasional questions about his prosthetic limbs grew even more annoying as the check up dragged on.

It was over finally and Ed left with the pocket watch hid in his sleeve.

"Good bye Edward."

* * *

Alright, well there is Ch. 8, promised to get it done quicker then the rest and I sort of did... I guess. I decided not to make the ending a cliffy for once, though the doctor (who if you've haven't guessed is Dr. Alden, the first person Al encountered) was creepy in my point of view. Poor Roy to, gone oh so quickly. Anyway, thank you Akuneisa for offering to be my beta and to everyone who reviewed. I love hearing from you guys xP 


	9. Transformation

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 9:**

**Transformation**

* * *

It felt like forever. Who knows? Maybe it was. Sitting there watching the glop they had given them, Alphonse stirred it in a bored manner as his interest to actually eat the mush faded. He had been told it tasted better than what the prisoners were given. That group containing Ed. 

With a frown, Al shivered at the memory of how his own brother said he was dead. Dead; how much he hated that word. The slight anger towards the older of the two hadn't diminished and Al groaned in frustration, his spoon slamming down into the bowl and the glop spraying out in various directions. Great, his clothes were already dirty enough.

"Alphonse!"

It was one of the doctors, Dr. Miklos something. Al never did pay any attention to the names, seeming that the doctor was referred to as Dr. Mengele's assistant.

"Uh… Hello?" the blonde answered, a confused look covering his annoyance.

"Dr. Mengele wants you to assist him with his dwarf family," the man said quickly, a pale look appearing on his face suddenly.

"His dwarf family?" Al repeated and only gained a nod from the doctor. "Ok."

Ignoring his half finished glop, Al hurried along to keep up with the man's brisk pace. He had learned from observation that Miklos hated the job as much as he did. He had even given Al some proven safe medicine for his swelling hand.

"They are the Lilliput Troupe, seven dwarves who used to tour in Eastern Europe before sent here," Miklos explained and Alphonse nodded to show that he should continue. "One has just recently passed away and Dr. Mengele wants your assistance in dissecting him."

"What!"

Al stopped clear in his tracks, ignoring the looks shot at him from the others.

"Al, please try to co-"

"Co-operate? I've been doing that long enough! I've co-operated with the surgeries, with realizing my brother doesn't care about me anymore, with having to bring all Dr. Mengele's 'material' to his lab, but I will not co-operate with taking apart a human being for the sake of 'Dr. Mengele's' research!"

He hadn't meant to snap the doctor's name like that at the end and now grew nervous as more gazes fell upon his shaking form.

"I'm sorry about your brother but this isn't a matter to decide whether you want to take orders or not. It's either this or something worse," the doctor sighed, motioning for Al to follow him out the door. "Come, you should change before going back to Dr. Mengele; he won't be pleased to see you so messy."

The blonde stood there, watching the doctor's back before retreating to follow him, trying his best to keep his patience with the rude comments he received from the others. Everything seemed to be driving him to the edge and all he wanted to do was curl up and fall asleep; forgetting Auschwitz's horrors.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"It's a bit big…" Al sighed, trailing off at the end as he examined himself in the dirty mirror lying on the ground. He kept his mouth shut about how terrible it made him feel, he wasn't even one of them and yet the SS stitched to the badge on his chest told others otherwise. Everyone wore one and now he had fallen into their special little group.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't sure so I guess bigger is better since anything too tight will get worn fast," Dr. Miklos replied as if an expert at the uniforms, rolling up the sleeves so he would appear less ridiculous then he already did.

"I don't like it," Al sighed helplessly, feeling trapped in the oddly comfortable uniform. The doctor nodded but didn't say another word before heading towards the building. Al scrambled after him though not to enthusiastic about what he was forced to do in the coming future.

Dr. Mengele had mentioned moving to a tent in Section B before Al had taken his lunch break. Maybe asking to move some equipment would get him out of operating on the 'material'. Section B was supposedly the next in the extermination path and Alphonse couldn't help but wonder if his brother was in there. He was angry but it didn't mean that he didn't care; he cared a lot.

Hating the way this place made all his thoughts run ragged and torture him, Al found himself watching a man barely 4 feet tall. He mumbled furiously to himself and Dr. Miklos shook his head sadly at the taller boy holding him.

"Through thick and thin, never separate. Stick together, guard each other, and live for one another," the man muttered, tears beaming in his own eyes. Alphonse was surprised that he still wore his original clothing and not the stripes the others were given. "You're… One of them!"

Al glanced at him curiously but fell silent.

"One of the SS men!"

_He must be drugged, he doesn't hear anyone..._

Dr. Mengele by now had stood up and shot out orders, which the dwarf was oblivious to.

"They'll take everyone away! The boy will kill them! The boy's a killer!"

Ashamed could be a word to match Al's sudden emotion but his eyes narrowed in a way that could only frighten both 'materials'. He was one of the SS men and he hated it. One thing to another and he had transformed into a murderer without even committing a crime.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ed ran his thumb over the pocket watch's lid, a small smile forming on his chapped lips. At least it was back in his hands.

"FX1726 follow me," a man's voice shouted over the whispers. Stuffing the pocket watch in the uniform's pocket, Ed stood up from the ground he had grown accustomed to sitting on and headed towards him. "Foll-"

"I heard," Ed replied and earned a glare; not that it mattered. His previous encounter with Al had already set the hurt limit. Why had Al ignored him? He knew lying was bad but it was a guess situation. Frustrated with himself, he hadn't bothered keeping track of where the man was taking him.

"Lying isn't something we tolerate."

The words hit Ed fast and he paled. They must have seen what the doctor wrote. "I know."

"Especially in the situation you've managed to land yourself in," the man finished with a growl.

"What situation?" Ed asked shakily, unsure of whether the man was talking about his sibling confusion or his prosthetic limbs.

"Don't play with me bastard, you know exactly what situation you got yourself into. Scamming everyone into thinking you weren't crippled!" the man spat, whirling his head to catch Edward's sick expression. "You're lucky I wasn't ordered to finish you off back there instead of giving you a more… Interesting punishment."

"Interesting? What is that supposed to mean… Sir?" Edward snapped, using the last word once he noticed the irritated look crossing the man's face. He appeared to have had his head shaved as well, more fuzz then actual locks on his head and a mark running above his eye jaggedly.

"You'll have the opportunity of moving to a different living quarter," the man continued, ignoring Ed's question.

"How's that punishment?" the nineteen year old questioned, growing frantic about what this man had up his sleeves. In return, the man laughed in an amused way.

He carried on and led Edward to a different area of the camp, from what he learned he was in Section B of Auschwitz and had to run through Section A and B. It was a few things he had managed to pick up while slowing his pace enough to eavesdrop on the SS men's conversations without being whipped or shot.

It was cleaner then the one he had was originally stationed in. A few clothed beds positioned in lines, he wasn't sure why he of all people was placed here. And how exactly was this torture?

"You can take a shower outside," the SS man grunted before turning on his heels and leaving as swiftly as he had come to retrieve Ed.

Taking one last glance at the empty area, Ed turned around as well. Three days in this hellhole and the stench of death had already embedded itself onto him. Maybe he did need one after all. Before he could leave, a cry scratched the air and he found himself staring at a figure holding what seemed to be a man half his height. The man's eyes were pale in an abnormal fashion and as he was laid on the bed, he twisted over and screamed once more.

"Not again, not again!" he moaned and Ed hurried out to leave the ruckus by itself. What did they do to him?

* * *

Finally, a bit of the plot rolling out. Yes, the brothers will reunite but if I explain it anymore there will be to many spoiler xD 

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and Aku my beta.


	10. Woke from Dreaming

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 10:**

**Woke from Dreaming**

* * *

_**Woke from dreaming,**_

_**But it took convincing**_

_**I was shaking screaming,**_

_**I was still alive.**_

_**And you were picking strangers,**_

_**By the side of roadways**_

_**Little little let the danger unfold.**_

Alphonse sighed, running a hand through his bangs. How stupid could he be? The man had nearly pleaded to be set free and he only watched. Just like the other SS men except the smile they wore wasn't visible on Al's face. Only a frown.

Section B wasn't any different then Section A or C or D. They all looked the same. The tent wasn't any bigger then the building but the same torture occurred in it as the last. He was glad to be standing outside.

People passed by, most in stripes and in a significant order. All had the same paranoid look and for some reason it bothered Al; he wasn't sure why.

"Al!"

His head turned and he saw Miklos leaving the tent. "Hm?"

"Dr. Mengele wants you," the doctor replied, pointing to the tent lamely. The blonde nodded and thanked him, forcing a fake smile on his face to show some emotion. Sulking would only anger everyone.

"Elric," Dr. Mengele greeted upon his entering; looking almost tired as he sat in the wooden chair beside the examination table.

"Yes," Al answered, not sure whether or not to feel nervous that he had used his last name. He did, on the occasions where something important came up and Al was given the opportunity to deal with it.

"I need for you to retrieve this man," he continued, handing Alphonse the slip of paper he was so used to receiving. A quiet 'ok' and Al left as quickly as he could, not wanting to stay too long in the room crowded with various machines and the continuous smell of decay.

"What did he want?" Miklos immediately asked, jumping to the question more quickly then Al had thought.

"He wanted me to get another person for his 'material'," Al replied, handing the piece of paper to Miklos without bothering to read the print.

An odd look appeared on the man's face, confused almost. Al waited patiently, not to enthusiastic about what it said.

"Poor Kid."

"Whu?" Al asked, his eyes fixed on the man's form instead of the darkening clouds above his head.

"The boy," Dr. Miklos replied, handing the now wrinkled paper back to Alphonse before wiping his sweaty hands on his shirt. "Heard he had to do with some mishaps."

"Really?" Al asked, curious about the matter.

"Yah, bad character from what I've been told," the doctor continued. "If you want, I can go get him for you and you'll take the credit?"

"No, it's alright," the blonde replied, glancing wearily at the buildings before him.

"Ok, I should get going then."

Dr. Miklos waved and disappeared back into the tent as a series of men headed towards it as well.

Not wanting to make a commotion by getting in the way or seeing who the next corpse was, Alphonse glanced at the piece of paper and bit back his heart.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_Al?_

Edward groaned, attempting to hold back the guilt. Tossing in the small bed, it was near impossible to sleep. The other inhabitants of the building were either wheezing in their sleep or whimpering out of pain. He hadn't bothered asking, noting that when he had returned from the shower he felt like an outsider. Everyone had their hair and clothes and appeared to be a family. How much he hated that word.

Their conversation when they reunited was all planned out. He would beg for forgiveness, Al would accept and they'd manage to get through this problem. At least that's the way he wanted, Al could always merely ignore him and everything would crumble from there.

Golden eyes barely open, Edward turned once more to face the wall in hopes that he would fall asleep faster with his back to the noise.

"FX1726?"

_Shut up…_

"Dammit, wake up!"

_I'm dreaming…_

A sharp blow hit his side, knocking the air out of him temporarily, which he struggled to gasp. Ed slowly sat up, the world black until his eyes began to adjust and the SS man who had brought him here now stood beside his bed with the same angered look.

"Get up, someone is here for you," he growled, giving Edward no time to reply. He pushed the messy sheet aside and stumbled out of bed, his legs feeling weak as if a heavy load was just set on his body. "Hurry up!"

He did as he was told, wandering almost drunkenly to the exit but was stopped when something brushed against his arm.

"Kid, watch out," a voice from underneath the pile of sheets warned, causing Edward to look down. It was the same man from yesterday, his voice being recognizable from the screams that had lasted multiple hours.

"Who?" was all he could say, unsure of what he meant, let alone where he was being taken and what would happen to him. Would he end up like the man?

"Don't let them touch your eyes," a whisper replied followed by a weep in pain.

A rough hand grabbed his arm and he was yanked away from the bundle of sheets, pulled roughly and thrown before the uniformed individual without even getting a chance to see who it was.

"What the hell was that for?" Edward growled, pulling himself to his feet. The SS man only laughed, nodding to the one before him.

"All yours."

He left abruptly and Ed finally managed to see who it was.

"Hello Brother."

* * *

The beginning lyrics is actually from a song this chapter is titled by. The plot is slowly unfolding and I'm guessing this story will wrap up before 20 chapters... I think, dragging it out for to long won't be to good xP 

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and please keep doing so!


	11. Questions

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 11:**

**Questions**

* * *

Al swallowed heavily, unable to believe that the tired form before him was Edward. Bald, striped and swaying as he stood, he could barely find himself able to stare straight at his own brother and found the floor to gaze upon. Why did he feel so ashamed? 

"Al? What are you doing here?" his familiar voice asked, slurred and almost... Angry?

"I'm here to take you away," he replied, unsure of how to say it without sounding cruel and heartless.

"No, you wouldn't do that," Ed mumbled.

Al's heart sunk but the ways to get his brother out of becoming the next guinea pig seemed impossible. His tears were held back by the one question Alphonse was worried to ask.

"I-I'm sorry," Al stammered lamely. Edward remained quiet and Al found himself leading his brother the opposite direction of the tent. They wouldn't notice, they were too busy experimenting on someone else to care about how long it took him to come back. He had to ask Ed now or he may never get the chance. Edward would die because of _him. _Al couldn't and wouldn't let that happen.

Lightning licked the sky above and for the first time since either could remember since arrival; it rained.

"Al…" Edward began, seeming to choose the next words carefully before his golden eyes narrowed and a sigh of frustration left his mouth. "How many people have you killed?"

Alphonse froze.

"How could you ask that!" he growled, ignoring the startled look his brother gave him.

"Al, lower your voice!"

"I haven't killed anyone!"

That was a lie. A large one that was the biggest burden Al could imagine. The worst part was that Edward didn't believe him.

Another clap of thunder and raindrops fell off his bangs, along with others that caused the dirt underneath his feet to become mud. Nasty, gooey mud that stuck to the bottom of his boots. His brother's dirty clothes seemed to grow even dirtier and Al kept his gaze forward at the now nearing tent. He had missed his chance to save his brother thanks to one dumb question Ed had asked and he didn't.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Edward wasn't sure it was the sudden coldness his brother portrayed upon entering the tent or the words that he spoke.

"I promise, you'll live."

The silent mumble and he was nudged into the tent where a group of scientists awaited his arrival.

"FX1726," one doctor stated, Ed cringing at his number name immediately. Everyone who said it did so in such a blank fashion and it annoyed him greatly.

A short nod as his response and Edward found himself staring at the single wooden table that the man had told him to lay on.

_Al?_

Ed didn't have enough time to glance back at his brother before he was pulled roughly towards the table and a sharp pain stung his wrist. His back hit the table surprisingly hard and a queasy feeling revolved in his stomach.

"Al? Al!"

His brother only lowered his head, causing the eldest to panic.

"Ed… Brother…"

It hurt to move his neck and he was forced to stare at his brother's angry expression, hating the helpless feeling. They must have drugged him; the room wouldn't be spinning if they hadn't. But how?

"Al, you have to he-"

"You don't care about me, do you?"

Ed's eyes widened as Al's glared at his shaking form.

"What are you talking about, of course I do!" he replied quickly. "Why do you think I don't?"

"Because if you care about someone you don't lie and say they're dead!" Al now shouted, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes.

"Alphonse!" a man's voice exclaimed, too close for Ed's comfort.

"Sorry," the blonde mumbled.

"I…" Ed stopped, unable to find words to continue his sentence or figure out the cause of the sudden leg pain.

"Shut up!" Al shouted once more, tears falling to the table Ed had found himself laying on.

"Alphonse! Set aside your family issues or leave!" the man once more stated and Al nodded.

"Al… Don't leave," Ed mumbled, his head pounding abnormally. His brother only stood up, saying a word of goodbye to the people crowding the table and grew more fuzzy as his form left. "Help…"

"His eyes."

"Al!"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Had he just done that? Had he just done the one thing he swore not to?

Alphonse could hear Ed screaming and it was the most brutal of all, overpowering any other sound that threatened the blonde's ears. Watching his brother seemed as painful as doing the operation himself. He felt so confused.

"Alphonse Elric?" a voice asked before a hand clamped on his shoulder tight enough to break it.

"Huh?" Al couldn't think of what else to say.

"You'll have to follow me."

"Why?" the blonde once more questioned, pulling his shoulder away as best he could.

_Brother..._

"Think of it as a promotion," the man only replied, shifting the rifle on his shoulder.

* * *

Sorry for the long delay, this one seems shorter then the last. Next one will be longer, promise. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, if you didn't get a reply for Ch. 9 I'm sorry x.x 


	12. Regrets

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 12:**

**Regrets**

* * *

The 'office' seemed more like four walls stuck together and a desk with two chairs on either side of it rather then anything else. The man; who he had been told was Rudolf Höß, sat behind the stack of papers seeming to watch him as if expecting Alphonse to burst out and beg to be let free. Al held his tongue. His mind was too clouded. 

"You've been working with Dr. Josef Mengele," Höß stated simply. "Tell me, do you enjoy working with the man? I would like an honest reply."

Al glanced up at him in surprise. He hadn't expected to be asked that question, let alone being able to give _his _opinion of the job.

"Well… I hate it," he confessed shyly, Höß's continuously dull gaze making him more and more nervous as he continued with his explanation. "I hate having to take people's lives and I hate having to watch them suffer because of my doing."

_Brother…_

Instead of the laughter Alphonse thought would be his reply, Höß raised a brow in amusement.

"Are you saying that you'd rather be in a different position then the one you are currently in?" the man asked.

Al was sure it was a trick question but the choices of what he could say were disappearing.

"Yes," he managed after a long pause. Was it the right answer? Of course it was, he would rather be anywhere outside this death camp then helping. He'd make sure Ed was there with him to, not back there.

Shivers ran down the blonde's spine.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It appeared as if he was crying, hell, right now Edward didn't know whether or not the tears were from the stinging in his eyes or the fact that he felt like crap.

His eyes burnt like they were about to explode and he spent the time blinking away to try to see properly. He couldn't and it hit him hard. Was he blind? The doctors had said something of the matter and 'waiting' but Ed was too caught up in fighting back more screams as they attacked him. Making it to the small bed Edward had chosen seemed like a miracle for the fact that he had crashed into the door blindly before entering the black barrack.

With the sheets pulled over him and sweat dripping of his forehead, Ed held back the urge to scratch his eyes out as the stings became overwhelming. The whole operation itself seemed to whiz by, a couple prods, his finger and toe prints taken, and at the end, a needle being pressed into both his eyes. That's how the burning began, right after he exhausted himself with attempting to run after his brother.

_Al…_

The last thing he had done was scream at Ed to shut up. And Ed deserved it. He had begged for Al to stay and now he finally realized how torturous the situation was to both and forcing his younger sibling to watch was something he found himself thinking about over and over again.

_I'm so sorry._

The thousandth time he had thought that over the past course of the week. At the train station, he should have grabbed Al instead of letting the man push him off. He should have said he did have a sibling which was alive and most of all, he should have said sorry in person and not merely thinking it over in hope he would feel better. Edward should have told Alphonse he was sorry for _everything_.

But as usual, Ed had let his own being get in the way and everything had fallen apart before him.

Finally, after blinking rapidly and rubbing his eyes until they were even sorer, Edward managed to keep them open but immediately felt regret. His hands were grey. It was night, obviously they would be darker with the series of shadows thrown over them but the entire _area_ was grey and its series of shades. The other beings in the room were all a mixture or black, grey and white.

_The doctors had said to wait._

Tears formed in the corner of his eyes. What color where his eyes anyway? Where they white? Black? Some far off color besides the golden orbs he was so used to glaring at in the mirror. For now, he wouldn't know. He may never and it felt like death.

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Line up!"

The man roared and Alphonse himself shook along with the others. The metal object felt colder in his hands though it was the one thing that gave him such an authority over all others. The meeting had gone… Well. Höß was friendlier to him then the man that had brought him there. But now, he felt like using the object against himself.

The people poured into the pit like animals, each lying down like he had seen so long ago.

"Heads down! Come ere' Blondie," the man who seemed to be in charge called. Alphonse gave him a quick refusal. With a raised eyebrow, the man glanced at the younger male. "That's an order, or do you want to join them?"

Shots rang out in the distance, adding grimly to the pitiful sight of the camp. So far, not a day of silence. Alphonse feared for that day.

Slowly, he stepped forward, not wanting to go near the naked bodies lying in the pit though he was pushed abruptly. Falling would end him in the situation he was hoping wouldn't happen and as carefully as he could without receiving another push from the man behind him, he stepped upon a still moving body. _Still moving._ He was in utter horror as the man behind him lowered his pistol and shot the head without a wasted moment of doubt.

"Your turn," he mumbled roughly and it took Alphonse a mere second to realize he was the one being spoken to. He shuffled forward slightly and placed a muddy boot on the person next in line. The man let out a shout in surprise and he almost fell as he wiggled underneath his weight. "Shoot him!"

He wouldn't.

"Shoot him dammit!"

_But he's a living being!_

His hand was taken by a gloved on and his finger moved to push the trigger. The man was quiet as blood dripped down from the middle of his head. Al could only stare; until another order to move was called.

_What would Brother think of me?_

_**"How many people have you killed?"**_

Tears slipped down his cheeks as another gunshot rang out.

_5._

Another step.

_6._

His hand was being guided to cause the murders but Alphonse couldn't muster the courage to tell them off.

7.

* * *

I have problems updating quickly now a days. A huge thanks to my beta, Akuneisa. She deserves more credit then I give her u.u Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed. It was the shortest chapter and yet everyone's sobbing. Heck, I was crying to x.x 


	13. Phantom

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 13:  
Phantom**

* * *

He stood before them, the prisoners gathered like sheep, frightened to move a few steps in any direction. Alphonse watched timidly with the continuous feeling that he himself was being watched. His eyes were darker then usual, though the sun shone from above. They scanned the group before him and whenever he managed to catch someone's eye, they would immediately look down and cringe as if he was a phantom from their nightmares. To some, he was. 

Four more SS men were with him, mumbling amongst themselves as they raked through papers and files from within the small shelter beside him. It was roll call and he had been forced to tag along. The reason why still remained a mystery; he wasn't one of them, not even close. He had started out as a simple scientist trying to find a way back to the home he now doubted he would ever see before moving to Dr. Mengele's pet. He didn't have a rank, yet he carried a rifle like the rest. He didn't have the authority to participate but he could be manipulated; all because Al was too preoccupied in worrying.

Unable to stand still, Alphonse shifted uncomfortably but kept his gaze before him. It was hard to spot his older brother but he kept on searching through the mass of stripes. Was he even in this group? He figured out from eavesdropping that the SS men along with him were in charge of doing the roll call for Auschwitz 1. So far, it had been past 3 hours and they still seemed to be counting. It was his only chance to find Edward and say the apology brewing in his head.

Pretending to walk around to see if anyone had decided to act against the given orders, Alphonse began to circle the group. It was surprising how many people were waiting for the day to carry on. All had a distinct look of impatience on their face that was immediately removed when he walked by.

Attempting to ignore the gallows that were positioned in a manner that each and everyone got a good glimpse of the victim's eyes after an execution; the blonde continued down the small group of buildings, nearly pressed against them to avoid coming in contact physically with anyone. Finally, he managed to hit someone's elbow and paused to offer an apology to the man but never managed to. A series of gunshots rang out from the end of the long line. No one turned their heads, only continued staring forward.

"Sorry," Alphonse managed to mumble, turning swiftly and continuing down the side of the buildings.

_Brother..._

Roll call would be ending soon, he could tell by the way all the officers were walking around; aimlessly and seeming almost┘ Bored. It could have ended an hour ago and they were standing only for the SS men's enjoyment or for the sake of double-checking, Alphonse didn't know.

Silently he continued, managing to walk around until the far back before spotting the person he was searching for.

Red eyed and with a look of exhaustion, Edward seemed to struggle to stand still. Every so often he would rub his eyes and blink, as if expecting something to happen.

"Brother!" Alphonse exclaimed, hoping to catch his attention. The eldest raised his head momentarily and the two found themselves staring at each other. Al always thought that he would be in Ed's place and his brother shouting at him from the sidelines, not the way it was now.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It hurt to keep his eyes open for too long so Edward blinked more often in hopes that the stinging would stop. But even that pain couldn't amount to the one he now felt gazing at his brother.

Before he could manage to say anything, the bell rang as it did everyday. Ed had grown accustomed to it and the usual loud noise but today he felt like it symbolized the end of his hope. He had been told earlier that the selections were coming and with the condition he was in, he didn't have a good chance of surviving. His brother wouldn't even know.

"Edward!" he heard Al shout as the group began to move. His feet dragged themselves along in an attempt to avoid being trampled.

"I'm sorry!"

He could be punished for saying anything but it didn't matter.

No reply came through the air to soothe him, not even a simple whisper. Was Alphonse shocked? Disoriented? Angry? Edward hoped not.

He marched in silence, passing by the series of gallows before heading towards the block he had been recruited to. Dr. Mengele had finished his 'testing' on him, for now at least. Edward had been released earlier and given the chance to participate in the long roll call. Lucky him.

The rest of the prisoners treated him indifferently, shoving past him in line while waiting for the day's rations or just giving him comments on his eyes. Edward, lacking the strength to argue, only let them continue with a hard glare.

Out of the hundreds that had stood, only a quarter went in the same way as him. Their murmurs were silenced by a single look from one of the guards. The man beside Ed, who he had learned was named Alex continued to mumble quietly to no one in particular. He seemed to be the first of the group who bothered to befriend Edward.

"We're heading to Block 11," he whispered, catching a couple of ears.

"Block 11?" Edward dared to ask, disliking how foreign everything seemed to him and not being able to keep up with anyone.

Alex only laughed, seeming to be amused by his confusion.

"We're heading for death."

* * *

**Beta: Akuneisa**

It wasn't as angst filled as the last one in my perspective. The next one will hopefully be both longer and step into the series of events that will soon happen. Thank you to everyone who reviewed and a tissue for those who cried xD

Sorry if the format is a bit screwed up, Fan Fiction wouldn't take the Word document so I had to paste everything on Notepad O.o


	14. Blank Fires

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 14:**

**Blank Fires**

* * *

His tongue was caught in the back of his throat. Why was Edward saying "I'm sorry" when Al should be the one begging for his forgiveness? It was too late for that now; he couldn't tell which prisoner was his brother anymore as they silently marched. 

The SS men who had done the majority of the counting now filed out of the shelter, one moving away from the group to join Alphonse. He held a clipboard with a bundle of papers and a tired look planted on his face.

"Take this to SS-Obersturmbannführer Höb immediately," he instructed simply, handing over the important documents to Alphonse. The blonde nodded politely out of habit.

He had never personally delivered anything to Höb; the change proposal was the only time he had set foot in the office. Alphonse had passed the block multiple times and the route still seemed crystal clear in his head, as if he had spent the past few days memorizing it. The way just stuck to him.

The SS man gave him a nod to send him on his way and Alphonse walked briskly though the muddy grounds. Al could take the longer route and hopefully catch up with the scattered group. But even if he managed to, how was he supposed to spot Ed?

As the blonde reached the cold doors and proceeded to knock on it, a second bell alerted the camp, sending it into action immediately. Kapos began shouting as the prisoners left the various blocks under the watchful eye and occasional shouts of the SS men. Alphonse stood there on top of the cement stairs, dazed as the lines of marching stripes wandered by. He should be used to it by now but for some reason he just couldn't. The door opened beside him and easily brought him out of the noticeable trance.

An SS man stood with a brow raised. Alphonse quickly handed him the report and was motioned to come inside. He did so.

The blonde trailed behind the man a couple of feet, fists clenched deeply in the dull brown uniform's pockets. Hopefully Höb wouldn't further question the report and only look it over before waving him away. As the seconds ticked by and the office door opened, the blonde was met with a surprising sight.

"They're bearing, the Russians will be here sooner then we had predicted," a tall man stated, a frown slowly coming into visibility." We will have to destroy the remains soon, though moving so many people will be difficult and take much planning. I say we cut the numbers as quickly as possible."

Höb nodded but matched his expression, sighing in frustration before raising his eyes to meet Alphonse's.

"The numbers," the SS man stated as he handed the papers to him under three pairs of eyes. Höb seemed to glance at it wearily before waving Alphonse and the man away, setting the bundle down on top of the orderly desk. Al was glad to finally be able to leave, disliking the look the man standing beside Höb's desk had as he watched the blonde like a hawk.

"Alphonse."

He stopped halfway in his tracks to turn around and glance at the older man. "Yes sir?"

"You're taking part in the selection with Dr. Mengele?"

Al wasn't sure whether or not it was a question or command. Just as he had managed to slip past the bars he was back in the cage.

"Yes sir."

His voice came out quieter then he had planned but he made no attempt to clear his throat and try once more. Instead, he roughly closed the door, leaving Höb's eyes staring at the thick piece of wood.

The sky, now filled with smudges of grey 'clouds', appeared to glare down at Alphonse as he walked down the steps. Heck, if he were the sky he would be doing just that. It was odd days like these that Dr. Mengele would send Alphonse to gather the subjects fewer times than most days. That gave the eighteen-year-old time to talk to Dr. Miklos, of whom he actually enjoyed speaking with. He hadn't seen or even spoken a word since he had left; even then Dr. Miklos was missing.

A frown had placed itself on his thin face but immediately faded into a crooked smile. He looked exactly like the SS man who had beaten Edward.

xxxxxxxx

"My wife Hannah and I moved to Warsaw barely a year ago and the neighbourhood was turned into a ghetto barely six months later! I do wish to know how both she and Kara are doing," Alex sighed, running a hand over his scalp. Edward had grown used to the mid-aged man's rambles and was actually thankful for them. He reminded Ed all too much of Hughes, always talking about family. The only thing that bothered him was how much it reminded him of his own family; the disappearing father, deceased mother and younger brother who felt disgusted with just one glance.

Alex must have seen his far away look and switched the topic quickly. "The soup has more color today."

Ed frowned in response, wishing he could see what color it was instead of the dark grey glop.

"It's as thick as mud," he answered, finding himself shovelling it down quicker to mask the atrocious taste. It wasn't the smartest thing to do but he could fake sick and act as if he had a painful disease. A man a few bunks down had done just that and had been sent to the medical barrack. He hadn't returned since.

Alex laughed softly, pushing is own mush around with his metal spoon. Ed forced a pained sole on his face as the horn blared throughout the camp, ending their shot lunch. The SS man was already waiting to send them off but something seemed different. They were split into two groups; one smaller then the other. Finding himself amongst the larger of the two, the SS man shouted for them to move and they obediently did.

No one knew where to go and Edward found himself bumping into the man before him, who grunted in annoyance and shoved Edward away with his elbow. It was one of these times that Ed would lash out at him; but that was the old Ed. The new one bit back his tongue and lowered his gaze in an almost ashamed way. Funny how much he had changed and how he wished for the old Edward Elric back.

Alex, currently standing beside the man, opened his mouth to say something but stopped as the SS man yelled at them to hurry.

Feeling weaker then normal, Edward began wondering whether or not the soup had truly affected him so rigorously. Only a single shout to make a straight line brought Ed from gagging.

"Take on body, hell and hand and then bring it in," the SS man ordered. Edward craned his neck to see past the series of heads but found it useless. The line lurched forward, a strong odor coming closer. Finally, it was Ed's turn.

A single look at the pile of bodies twisted into each other made Edward's stomach dilemma true.

The SS man swore heavily at the nineteen year old for his delay and he had no choice but to do as instructed. Gripping the corpse so lightly it could slip out of his very hands, Ed dragged it through the open doors. From both the heat and smell of burning corpse, Ed knew that they were the day's crematorium workers; at least he hoped that it was only today. He couldn't take the ashes stinging his now fragile eyes nor dragging the boney figure to a slit where it would be eaten by blank fires.

Edward was ordered to throw it in but declined. A sharp glare and nearly conscious taking blow to the head was painless compared to having the corpse's eyes stare at him as the flesh around them was devoured. And for that, he was glad to have gone partially blind. No more red blood.

* * *

Kapos- head prisoners 

**Beta- **Akuneisa

I've been so sleepy these past few days and it's effecting my writing greatly x.x My beta told me there was a lot to fix with both Ch. 14 and 15 (which I will be posting either tomorrow or Monday ;D) and I started laughing like a crazed lady. Sorry if this chapter is so... Bleh.


	15. Who Has Placed This Upon Us?

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 15:  
Who Has Placed This Upon Us?**

* * *

His legs felt numb and if Ed were to kick a saw, he'd feel nothing. Barely able to shift weight from one foot to another, Edward stumbled on the smooth path, nearly falling over from the lack of balance he had gained. The once bearable nights had turned into hell as they had been forced to sleep -or more of stand- in the closet-sized rooms beside the crematory chambers. He had gotten barely 5 minutes of sleep due to both the discomfort and heat. It could easily be seen in his now blood shot eyes. 

Stiffly, Edward approached the growing pile of corpses mindlessly. Since the earliest morning bell, he has been dragging the skinny bodies and tossing them into the ongoing flames. Alex was three people in front of him and seemed to be doing it almost willingly. Ed scowled at them but soon realized, what else could they do? They were beaten if they didn't obey, and they were beaten if they did. The first sign one would see when entering this death camp would have the words "Work Makes You Free" on them. The sign, like most things was a false promise. Nothing could make them free now.

As another corpse fell victim to him, the loud screeching horn froze everyone's actions. A nearby SS man shouted at them to drop the corpses. Everyone did, leaving the bodies lying helplessly on the ground to be trampled.

A few murmured amongst each other, claiming for it to be another morning roll call. They were being herded like sheep into the area as before, Edward trying not to lose himself in the ruckus. Slowly prodded and beat into perfect lines, Ed glared against the distance that separated him and the main attention source. He could make out the gallows; they were a bit hard to forget. Two people were positioned underneath them with the ropes hung loosely around their necks for now.

Multiple people gasped and Edward had a sudden need to push his way to the front. It was too blurry to see exactly who they were but their height said it all. They couldn't be older than thirteen and looked almost the exact same. Brothers maybe? His heart hit the ground.

xxxxxxxx

Al stood at the sidelines, his brows furrowed at the pitiful sight before him. Neither of the two brothers seemed the slightest bit scared; only saddened. Their eyes told everyone just that as they blankly stared straight forward.

It reminded Alphonse all too much of Edward and him, how they were almost inseparable. Until now. Now he had destroyed whatever brotherly relationship they had left. All he needed was a single chance to ask for forgiveness and then a couple of years to make up for it. He knew perfectly well that it was not only his mistakes that caused everything to crumble, Edward was just as guilty as he was.

It would be over soon, one push of the handle and the two boy's necks would snap.

"Line up!" the man beside him roared, not only making the prisoners cringe but Alphonse as well. Even if he only saved one life, he would trade places with the prisoners. Having to watch them suffer was just as painful and something he hated taking part in. Being forced to laugh at a man who was too ill to stand and was being beaten for just that, being forced to smile though deep inside he was scarred. "Dammit, get in line!"

Alphonse was sure the last one was merely to scare the prisoners. They were standing perfectly still and straight enough to be tipped over by a small breeze.

"Brother..." one boy murmured, Alphonse being the closest of all hearing each word almost perfectly.

"What Juliek," the other mumbled, a foreign accent tinting his words. "Now is not the time to be speaking."

"I..."

The boy could now only stop his stammers and sigh in frustration. Wearily, he raised his eyes but his focus was not on his brother, but Alphonse. That lame stare caught Alphonse off guard for he finally realized how childish the boy looked, as if he were ten years old and not the age they had told him. Tears built up in the boy's brown eyes and he looked away ashamed. Alphonse didn't, feeling not even the slightest anger. Only fear and disgust; disgusted about how they could do something.

"Killing angels," one prisoner mumbled, shaking his head out of pity.

"Hats off!" the SS men ordered. Anyone who had managed to smuggle or steal a hat immediately took it off, frightened that they would be the next to be hung if they didn't.

The wooden handle was pulled and the floor fell from beneath the two. The one who had taken a chance and looked at Alphonse now struggled to keep alive, twisting helplessly on the end of the thick rope loop. His brother dangled limply, head positioned in a way that it would be hard to believe that his neck hadn't been broken on impact.

"Hats on!"

Everyone replaced the article of clothing back on their heads grimly. The boy continued to struggle, his kicks growing weaker until they dangled just as his brother's, eyes wide open and staring out into the abyss.

The prisoners were made to walk past the bodies, each one having to look straight at them; to strike fear into their hearts. The SS men could care less about the dead bodies, waving at them as they hung.

Alphonse watched the prisoners trudge by, each taking their turn in staring and then immediately whipping their gazes away. Al himself took the time to watch the meek figures, feeling a sense of dread wash over him. Finally, he watched his brother walk by, eyes fixed on nothing else but the air above the boy's heads.

"Brother... Forgive me."

* * *

**Beta- **Akuneisa 

School is starting for me tomorrow so I wanted to post this chapter before I'm faced with walls of homework. This chapter made me cry for some reason... It could just be that I'm an emotional wreck at heart ;D

The "J" is Juliek actually sounds like a "Y". It's a Polish name.


	16. Examination

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T+

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 16:**

**Examination**

* * *

After the short hanging, Alphonse was told to stay. His honey eyes watched as they cut the ropes, letting the frail corpses drop to the ground with a thud. Like the blonde, two other prisoners had been ordered to stay. They now scurried underneath the gallows to retrieve the bodies, grabbing them carelessly by the ankle and wrist before proceeding to the building beneath the cloud of smoke. 

"Alphonse, it's good to see you," a familiar voice piped up, Al turning the see the so called 'Angel of Death' beside him. The calm and almost civilized expression strewn across the man's hollow face nearly made him appear the opposite of his infamous title. Al felt disgusted but concealed it with a false cheerful look.

"Hello," he replied, nearly biting his tongue on the word. "Have the selections begun that quickly?"

Dr. Mengele chuckled. "Indeed they have, and your assistance is needed. Though not a doctor such as myself, you have seen those who are suitable for failing."

Al regretted asking the question but knew that eventually it would become the topic one way or another.

Using a content face, Alphonse trailed behind the doctor, answering the occasional questions aimed his way. He wanted to ask Dr. Mengele a question himself, the man being the only one who had used a normal tone instead of an ordering one with Alphonse at times. One question, that's all.

He had learned from his brother that the Russians were people up north, but when would they arrive? The words were at the tip of his tongue, pleading to be spoken but he held them back. Alphonse had seen the look of malice each SS man's face revealed at just the word 'Russia' and asking such a thing would only make more tension throughout the area.

Four men were waiting for them in front of a barrack; the place Alphonse had watched prisoners file into after the evening's meal. The SS men greeted them with a short nod and handed Dr. Mengele a clipboard with the papers clipped together tightly in a neat bundle. Al was beginning to slowly dread those cardboard objects.

The doors opened and one by one the first of the group, the Kapos, would walk by, all prisoners nude so that the doctors standing before them could make sure they were in good condition. Alphonse hoped Edward wouldn't be here.

Dr. Mengele checked off no one's number, motioning for the ordinary prisoners to now come. Once more, they ran by; some fast enough to have to be asked for their number. Al attempted to look away as much as possible but was given the job of telling the man the tattooed numerals. He dared not lie for it would mean the death of two or more innocent people.

As the group opposite of the barrack began to grow, a boy's turn was next. He seemed almost fifteen, eyes only a few shades darker then Al's. He quickly walked by, attempting not to run but failed miserably.

"Number?" Dr. Mengele questioned, narrowing his eyes slightly at the pale paper. Alphonse caught the boy's number in the corner of his eyes.

"He's perfectly fine," the blonde mumbled, looking up momentarily. The doctor only shook his head with a laugh.

"His condition is faltered by his limp."

How could Al have missed it? Feeling rather foolish now but holding some remorse at the individual's almost mirror image of himself, Al hastily spoke. "Oh um… HT1017"

The word sounded foreign to his voice and it came out slurred.

At last the dreaded hour was over, Alphonse letting out a sigh of pure apologies. Dr. Mengele called out the numbers of those who didn't pass, leaving them petrified and those who did, smiling. Happy to be alive for now.

XXXXXXXXX

Edward waiting anxiously with the others, finding it frustrating to have to stand still while cold air seeped through the cracks in the building and tickled his face. He never did enjoy waiting, it felt pointless.

At last, the doors opened to reveal a faint blur. He had heard a few call one man in particular a name that now escaped him. Forgetting was even worst. It was hard to tell who it was now, his eyes failing him constantly.

"Listen carefully!" The selection has begun, you are to undress and go before the SS doctors!" A booming voice shouted, pausing to choose the next carefully. "Stay alive! Stand straight, look forward and run, not walk. Your very lives depend on these next minutes!"

The room had fallen silent as the last amount of advice was given.

"Do not fear them!"

How much everyone wished they could.

Quickly, everyone undressed and left their belongings on their bunks. Naked and cold, Edward watched as the doors opened to reveal a series of blurs, one slightly shorter then those surrounding it.

He had managed to cheat death three times; in the beginning as they received their clothes, the medical examination and the experiments. Edward knew his luck would eventually run short but never in such a pathetic way. Truly, the thought of reuniting with Alphonse was the only thing that kept him from giving up.

The line moved forward, each individual having his own slice of hell. A light nudge pushed him forward. It was Alex and the nineteen year old was next.

He ran, head up, eyes moving and trying to find a focus point. Edward was sure he wouldn't pass, prosthetic limbs out in the blue for all to see. It seemed like hours before he finally reached the group but only a split second when he heard a gun clink.

"Interesting… Number?"

The haunting voice that had first managed to calm him now returned to give him his death sentence.

"FX1726."

Ed's breath hitched and his eyes darted to the SS man's now clearer form. Alphonse met his eyes, frowned and then shook his head before looking away. That's all he did.

Alex slowed his pace enough to stand beside Edward. With a blunt look, the nineteen year old broke his gaze and glared at the sky, cursing the clouds.

"You're younger then me, I should have been the one to have my number called," Alex sighed.

Ed laughed to hide his pain. "With these limbs? It's impossible for me to do anything but fail."

His head hurt and tears irritated his eyes, slipping down his cheeks as his gaze remained on the grey smudges.

"I'm sorry," Alex's gruff voice murmured.

"Please. Don't be."

* * *

Wowies, when was the last time I updated? Sorry for the disturbingly long wait, school is a bugger. From now on the chapters will be getting longer since I'm hoping to wrap it up by chapter 20 or so. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot :D 


	17. Dead Soldiers

**Title: **Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating: **T

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary: **He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 17:**

**Dead Soldiers**

* * *

Alphonse's voice hung in the air, running through his mind over and over again until he was ready to throw up. Cold and naked, Edward was forced to stand on the right side with the others who had failed. Some were trembling and crying while others cursed at the clouds as he had. Honestly, Edward had no clue which to do. Cry? No, his little scrap of pride begged the opposite. Curse? He had already listed all the words possible.

The group was becoming larger as numerous numbers were called. Unlike him, most had a flesh arm and leg. They were "normal". Yes, he had cheated death enough times to be dubbed lucky but dying in such a way seemed almost pathetic; especially due to the fact that his own brother was part of the reason behind it. Standing in the dirty snow with the wind biting his exposed flesh wasn't a particular bright point of the situation either.

_I wonder what mom would think…_

An SS man shouted orders at them as the list was completed and the failed wept. They were made to stand in a single line, perfectly still and silent. Shouted at, insulted; no words had any meaning to the group, of course, if you were to die aggressive words would be the least hurtful. In Edward's head the only words that could have broken the tough shield he had put up was his brother's. _His _words were long said. They were pushed and shoved into a heavy march, the group walked like dead soldiers, though the honor one would have carried didn't exist. They walked quietly, each attempting to think of life before Auschwitz. It was hard, a few of the events that had happened in the death camp left scars that could never be healed.

Edward could see the smoke piling up in the sky above the buildings, filling the air with flakes of ash and the stench of burning fleshing. Barely a few weeks ago he had been the one guiding the unfortunate to the fire and forcing them in alive without the slightest intention of sympathy. It wasn't where he had though he'd be standing but now, as his own time to step into the flames neared, Edward couldn't help but feel guilty wishing he was the executioner, cold and blunt.

"Heads up! Stand straight!"

It was their time to die, suffer for a crime not their own.

* * *

Alphonse finished scribbling down the side notes beside each name, briefly pausing to double check in case any mistakes were made. Dr. Mengele was gone, left with his second assistant to continue the examinations and leaving Al alone with his thoughts. Right now, he wanted anything to keep his mind occupied.

Attempting to stop his wandering thoughts as he paced endlessly along side the barrack, the eighteen year old restlessly gazed in the direction of one of the crematories. He himself had escorted a previous group to it and watched them burn before him, screaming in pain as their flesh was burnt to a sickening black and flaked off into the hungry fires. Many had thrown insults at him out of rage before taking their steps but Dr. Mengele merely laughed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, assuring him that they were insignificant like the words they spoke. Of course, Alphonse didn't believe a single word the monster said and felt more insignificant then them. Knowing that his brother was sentenced to death by him on worsened the feeling. Why was Edward the only one to suffer? Why not him? All the obstacles they had overcome, deaths, fights; everything they had passed together. Everything until this.

Al frowned, honey eyes blank with memories and dull with exhaustion. If Edward was to die, he would die as well. He had done nothing for too long and watching his brother and many other prisoners suffer under his "powerful" command was about to end.

_Edward, please, I'm so so-_

An explosion shook the camp, the impact crumbling the buildings close enough to it and sending dust and debris flying across the ground. Alphonse hit the wall of the barrack, the air immediately knocked out of him and leaving the blonde gasping and shaking. How could they have not seen the attack coming? Airplanes filled the skies as more explosions crumbled Auschwitz. The death camp had been found and now, everyone was panicked.

Trying his best to pull himself up, Alphonse used the wall as support and soon found his left arm useless. Turning his body, the boy stumbled into the building, finding it better shelter then out in the open. Others scrambled in as well, all with shocked and pale faces though the SS men attempted to put up an emotionless mask. Smoke, bodies scattered and the constant sound of bombs hitting the ground; it felt like Europe had taken the camp into its clutches.

But as fast as the attack had begun, it ended. The smoke continued to blacken the sky and a silence that nothing could describe fell. Alphonse gasped for breath, his lungs burning and throat tightening as the choking air entered. Each muscle felt sore and his shoulder were he had first come in contact with the barrack's wall now found it's own pulse –he was surprised to find the clip board still clutched in his shaking hand.

"Alphonse," a voice said with a gruff edge. "Tell the others to begin an evacuation, Auschwitz is useless now."

* * *

He didn't want to move, he didn't even want to think. Edward lay curled on the ground, the explosion knocking him back as it destroyed the crematory he was supposed to be burning in. Many had been thrown across the ground, half dead and half alive. It was hard to figure out where those that had been standing before him were; all he could see was black. His eyes burnt with tears, fragile from the treacherous experiments and the penetrating dust. Edward tried to roll over but failed miserably, too weak to force his body to do it even though he knew that if he were found in such a limp state he'd be shot. 2nd attempt, failed. Third attempt, failed once more. At last Edward managed to turn on his back, the rocks and other jagged shards strewn across the ground digging into his back.

Trying to get a better view of where he had been thrown, the nineteen year old blinked away the tears and for a second forgot the shades of grey that now concealed his world.

"Edward?"

The black returned rapidly, sucking up the lighter shades that fueled the fires.

"Edward!"

He could recognize the voice and it failed to bring comfort.

"… Dad…"

* * *

I bet you were expecting Alphonse :P hank you to everyone who has reviewed! How long has it been since I posted my apology letter? 3 weeks? 1 months? 2? Urgh, I'm so slow -.- Thank you so much for your guy's incredibly amount of patience! I promise to type up Ch. 18 asap!

- Mari


	18. Let Me Come Home

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** M

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

**Chapter 18:**

**Let Me Come Home**

* * *

They poured into the night like bleach. To the dark, to Wodzisław Śląski, to hell. One foot and then the left, his _legs! _They clunked along in the death march. The uniform he wore wasn't his own. That wasn't his blood. They walked in sloppy lines for even the guards were feeling the January chills slip under their shirts and shoes and coats. Having had his world slapped in greys and blacks for long enough to grow accustomed to picking which shade meant what, Edward deciphered black from black from the darkest gray he'd even seen. Stick white legs and snow obscured his concentration every so often and he was sure that they must have all looked like sick thin things to children. No one stood and watched their passing by. No one waited.

Men cried for themselves, and men cried for their wives. One man in particular fell to his knees and tore off his shoes, revealing black, blistered feet. _He_ cried for God.

"He isn't listening, you fool!" Urged a friend, pulling the man helplessly with both hands and a weak grip. The other just flailed about, as if he had finally accepted death and Edward's pace quicked to avoid seeing the results. His father walked a constant ten, eleven steps behind him.

"Edward..." He'd call every so often before being shushed. The only sound the guards allowed were the whipping trees and their own babble. "Edward."

Hours earlier, when he was laying there on the ground like someone who'd finally accepted death (and the loss of his brother to the evils of the world), his father and picked him up and taken him away. He had made a mess of the scene, fighting and kicking because he didn't want to go through this anymore. Just minutes before their march had started he tore off his shoes, threw snow, and cried. Edward had finally lost his pride.

* * *

The bike bounced about violently, almost knocking Alphonse and the rather bubbly man beside him off the back of it. Snow was kicked up into prisoner's faces as they cascaded down the meek line. Some had draped blankets around their shoulders for the snow was growing thicker. Even the driver murmured a slur of curses as yet another bump threatened to knock the trio off the mobile.

"We're close to the camp!" The man beside him shouted, even though it was impossible to see where the hell they really were in the dark. Al had been told that the Soviet army was nearing, nearly grasping the camp in their "filthy" hands as seen with the bombings. He himself had been knocked to near unconsciousness when thrown against a dead bolted door. If it weren't for his then state, he would've shouted in joy.

Another bump and Alphonse offered to take the place of tired guard. He kept his eyes fixed to the ground. The prisoner's faces as they walked and stumbled were more frightening than the monsters he imagined in his dreams. He wanted to shout, "only one more mile! Only one more!" They would stop for the guards were tired with the night.

"Slow your pace and they'll stop!" One had shouted at him when he faltered for a second to see if the man behind him was limping anymore worse than the one in front. He waved a hand to gesture that he had heard but didn't quicken his pace. He tried to imagine himself as a prisoner, but shook the thought out immediately. It terrified him- was his brother here? He had stared right into his brother's bloody eyes and bruised ego. _That _was his dreams' monster and he had curled away. _How could he live now?_

"Your eyes..." A man whispered in the quietest voice, almost making Alphonse lean in to hear. "They remind me of a friend's."

Al nodded, shaking his head, twisting the gun in his hands and almost dropping it.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

The man beside him was dead. Edward himself felt a bit like dying, for his couldn't feel one set of toes and one set of fingers. Their camp was a sad assembly of tents and poorly structured houses, as if the architect was the devil himself. Their beds were filthy though no one had slept in them before the group, and a breeze that frosted the tip of your nose crept from the cracks like a ravage creature. He was too weak to get up to a top bunk, but the man with him boosted him up before tumbling in beside him. _And so they lay._

Their eyes were the slightest tinge of honey, and the smallest _smallest_ touch of hope.

"Edward, I'm dying."

"We all are for fuck's sake."

His cough had so much blood Edward wanted to scream.

"I know, I know. Alphonse-"

"Who?"

"Edward, don't be foolish."

"He'd dead with all the others. He died."

He closed his eyes. _He died._

_

* * *

_

It's pretty obvious I didn't update this for exactly two years and one month, and you may have noticed the change in my writing style. I actually started feeling guilty for not updating, it grew ridiculious and I needed to post a new chapter. Thanks to new readers still interested in checking this story out, and a ridiculious thank you to old readers who have still somehow managed to find their way back. This is a filler chapter and I'm still truthfully deciding how to end it since it's been a while and I'm wanting to go out with a bang that'll tear your heart strings.

**_Still love, Mari_**


	19. The One With Whom You Fell

**Title:** Perfect Absence

**Anime:** Fullmetal Alchemist

**Rating:** M

**Disclaimer:** I wish, but can't say that I own any of Hiromu Arakawa's works

**Summary:** He never was the one to do such acts, he wasn't even the one to stand by and watch. But now, Alphonse meets the Holocaust face to face and he chooses who dies and who survives. Including his own brother.

* * *

_**Chapter 19:**_

_**The One With Whom You Fell**_

_**

* * *

**_

They stayed inside this place for many nights. Often, in what Edward thought could be the earliest hours of the day or the latest moments of the evening, men would shriek of parasites under their skin. In a frenzy they'd scratch themselves bloody, their skin so raw and red that he could feel their flinches and aches from across the room as they settled on top of one another in an attempt to get away from the cold floor. Out of the forty men inside the structure, he only recognized one.

Every so often he'd cross the room on tingling legs, under the watchful but tired gaze of his father. When he'd catch his eye he'd scowl like a child and continue his march, not a word spoken between the two (not that Edward needed to talk). Most of the men were too hallow, drained of emotion and breath, preferring to remember their lost families from their rough cots until tears were in their eyes and the feeling of being human was abnormal enough to have them weeping for _feeling_ something. Every so often he himself would get a tinge of this pain, but he'd see his father and keep pacing.

On the third day the group had deteriorated to half its size. Boys fell from the top bunks and succumbed to shock as their fathers and strangers' fingers alike finally stopped their endless tremors. Some eyes were wide, having seen the unspoken fear that crept loudly through the cracks in the wooden walls at night, a deadly but patient beast. The rest remained closed in a peace Edward longed for. It didn't stop him however from startling awake others when his own father fell limp, pushing him onto his back in a hysteria, slapping him, shouting, bringing two officers towards him from the door.

"He's alive! He's alive!" he wailed as a strained eyelid slowly opened. "Look, see!"

The men left and Edward let out shaky breaths until he sobbed, wracking gasps that shook his body more violently than the coldest nights. He cried for the person he used to be, the child he still was, and who he'd become. He cried for his mother, his father, Winry and Pinako, for the men and women he'd seen and will never see. Most importantly, he cried for Al.

"They're killers, they're monsters," he spat between clenched teeth, "they wait for us to die like we're some pigs."

"We are all monsters of our own kind, Edward."

"Don't compare me to _them_."

"But..." His voice was a whisper so hushed Edward craned to hear over the wind and desperate sounds. "We've all tried to play God."

He squeezed his eyes shut, opening them to tears hot on his cheeks and chin. As he laid back down to face a roof that was very black, his hands rubbing against his face, he listened intently to the hoarse breathing from his left. It was slow. He raised his prosthetic arm, close enough to his eyes to see its silhouette then laid it down beside him.

It was hours like this that something else kept Edward awake, though hunger still caused his stomach to clench tightly and what felt like bugs crawled across his skin. Beginning at the back of his mind and slowly making it's way forward, he couldn't get away from it or accept it for what it was. It wasn't the SS men who'd demean him with hostility or death that was sly and lucid, not even the glimpse of holes in the snow dug by men searching for their brothers. Edward could barely put it into words himself.

This evil was here tonight in the form of his dying father, and as the fifth or sixth day passed, the officers opening the doors to let in angry snow and breezes, he gave the man's shoulder a shake. It was cold and he was still.

* * *

Alphonse straightened his uniform with gloved hands. Somewhere in the distance he could distinguish gunshots from breathing walls that creaked loudly throughout his stay. Before this he would've joined the other men, but now he only lay stiff in his cot claiming to have come down with a cold.

"Hey, scientist?" one man asked when Al tucked himself away in the farthest corners of the room. "Found a cure for all of 'em yet?"

The room filled with barks of laughter, cigars lighting, stubbed, as he stood up. He couldn't tell if his life's work was now being mocked. A stubby character slapped his shoulder, palm heavy and now shaking the boy into an embrace.

"We could march them all out to the sea if we weren't so damn tired!"

Howls, now, as ashes flickered across the floor and men leaned back in their chairs with bright red faces. The stove fed by wood (he'd seen a few so weak that they had to gather it from their knees yesterday) was now extinguished as the last cigarette dropped. One of the quieter officers walked towards Al and took him away from the almost drunken banter of the other.

"C'mon boy, we have a pace to keep up with."

The sky was clear and close, Alphonse almost raising his hand to touch it, with the sun shining down onto the snow before them. Their boots were soon wet and the air was so dry, so pure that he almost found it hard to breath in. All men alike were gathered outside the sheds they'd been kept in, and a bit over a small bank he could see bodies twisted together like twigs of the forest around them.

"Scientist..." the older man mused, receiving a sharp glance from Al.

"I wasn't brought around to kill," he replied in a hiss, furrowing brows and kicking of the packed snow before his steps accompanied his words.

"Oh?.. Interesting. Sacrifices need to be made though, for the better good."

This sent Alphonse into a hysteria, within seconds he was screaming at the man.

"Alphonse, have you gone mad?" one guard that pulled him off the officer said, a look of not anger but disappointment overtook his face. Alphonse didn't feel a single thing, he didn't want to please them. He'd wanted that before, to keep himself alive for the sake of Edward, to hopefully piece back together what was left of the two as he'd always done before. They'd found a way through most things, sometimes blindly, but nonetheless they were a team.

He'd never felt so alone.

Many have gone crazy, whispering to themselves like their prisoners, rattling around guns and walking with a constant war torn disposition. It was as if they'd come to terms that they'd eventually feel the consequences of their sins and wanted no more of it. One had told Alphonse that he prayed to God every night in hopes of making everything right (but deep down at the bottom of Alphonse's being he knew that was impossible, he just knew). The man was shot.

Al remained at the back of the march with his gun cradled in his arms, still an awkward fit despite practices of how to use it. He rounded up the slackers, the lame and the exhausted, urging them to go forward with as little words as possible. He was being watched, the badge on his uniform not a clearance for the beady eyes that followed his each sloppy movement. Each step was a thought out calculation until all attention was brought to a man who collapsed with a final plea to die on the road. He finally took a gulp of air as another being sighed.

* * *

Between the hours of the day, when Al had to work his hardest to keep up, and the two day stretch that they walked, he grew into a state of disbelief. Was he Alphonse? Was he Alphonse _Elric_? Was he who he thought he was or the person he wished to never see? He'd thought out this fear multiple times, when he first entered the camp, and when he was just the shell of a young child. Realizing when the morning's first bullets rang out like the sirens of a screeching storm, that his entire life had been spent fighting for something and someone (even when he'd turn away from a mirror, unable to go without feeling such remorse towards this metallic creature, he still fought for his brother's sake), and now when forced to fight for himself, to be greedy and hostile, he didn't. He couldn't.

Alphonse shook his head, rubbing his brow. He was truly going mad.

When the train tracks led them to a series of waiting cattle carts, and Al helped up a boy his age roughly, in spite of himself, into one, he sat in front and allowed the SS officer beside him to elaborate on the trek. At one point he fell asleep to the bumps and rocks but woke up from a dream so terrible he only stayed on the cart for the sake of being away from the thumps of dead bodies.

Thump.

Thump.

They fell like snow.

Thump.

Alphonse watched their bruised bodies curl onto the train tracks before him.

Thump.

On the tenth day the group arrived at Buchenwald with the last two survivors in Al's cart.

* * *

_Thanks everyone for all the great reviews! I'm extremely happy that people are still interested in this story, and due to such a reception** I was thinking of doing a follow up story.** I can't say who'll be in it, that'll just spoil the rest of PA, but I can say that I will elaborate greatly on characterization and really get into their brains rather than having the plot do all the work; something I hope I achieved with this chapter! Rereading all the old ones, I felt like I hadn't really covered not necessarily the emotions but the mental strain and effect that all this must have on the boys. I almost want to rewrite everything but I'm a lazy cow ahaha! Anyway, tell me what you think about a follow up in the reviews! **Lots of love, Mari.**_


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